Easter

We had another great Easter, filled with fun and activities. The day before there was a local Easter egg hunt at the park near our house so we rode our bikes over. We were running a little late so Kevy stayed back riding with Jane (because she is the slowest bike rider ever and she is actually getting slower!!) I hurried ahead with the big girls so that we could get registered. They let the little kids go first and of course Annie couldn't have cared less about the whole thing. Russ did have a little more interest this year than he did last year. He wasn't crazy over it but he did go out there and get some eggs.

Annie did like getting into the eggs after the fact

Daddy was showing her all the eggs that he helped her collect.

Its my mission to try and get pictures of Anne because right now she is so diffficult to get good pictures of. All of the ones I have on my camera are blurry because she will not hold still.

I love this picture of my Kevy and all of our wild children.

Kevy had a strategy with Lizzy and Nellie and they were pretty successful. But Nellie did tell us that there was a child near her that spilled all of her eggs out of her basket and Nellie took advantage and grabbed a bunch. It made me feel bad as a parent that she would do something like that so we had to have a nice little chat about what is not appropriate. I think Nellie is just so blinded by the candy that she just can't see straight.

Here the girls were trying to find tickets because there was a drawing for prizes. Annie and Russ actually got over twenty tickets and there were a lot of prizes, but of course we didn't get any. Both Kevy and I have the worst luck with stuff like that!

I think I got a really great picture of the kids in their easter clothes. I didnt make dresses this year, but I bought dresses for Mikes wedding, and I just replaced the girls ribbon with different colored ones and i made them each a shrug to wear over them. i thought they tured out so darling. I totally procrastinated making them because of my trip until the week before Easter, but after making the first one I whipped out the second two really fast.

We didn't have the chance to get a family picture before chuch because Kevy was on a work call that made us late for chuch. So we had to get one after church and the girls had already changed, so I made them change back into their dresses so we could get a picture. Unfortunately the light was totally different than themorning when it was so good.

We really tried to fill up the day with easter activities because we were so busy with other stuff on saturday. While the babies were sleeping the big girls decorated their eggs. After the egg decorating we stuffed the eggs for the egg hunt. I let the girls decide if they wanted the Easter Bunny to come or to do an egg hunt. They decided on an egg hunt since we have such a good backyard for it.

 

We let Russ go first and then after a few minutes Jane and then the big girls. Of course Nellie totally freaked out about that, about how unfair it was. Which was totally ridiculous because we had already determined how many eggs they could get and only let them get that many each.

 

I was surprised because there were a bunch that I had to help the kids find. The girls were just so concerned about finding a lot that they wouldn't even look that closely and actually misssed a bunch! It was fun though. We always have a good time doing fun things with the kids. They sure bring a lot of joy to our lives. Kevin and my life would be awfully boring without these fun, crazy kids of ours!

 

Annie's birthday party

I am not one of those people that throws a giant party for my one year old. I hope I don't scar them because of that, but who knows. I do like to do a cake for them and have family over. I had asked the girls what kind of cake I should make for Anne between a bee and a caterpillar, and they all voted for caterpillar. I thought it would be cute to do the star tip but I really wasn't aware of how much surface area there actually was! It took forever! And I ran out of green frosting so I couldn't make it the way I really wanted to, but oh well. I think it still turned out really cute.

I also made another cake because I needed more than one for the caterpillar.

Annie gave me the cutest smile for the camera. Of course she didn't open her presents but Mr. Russ was more than happy to help her with that! I can't wait for his birthday because he is seriously going to love opening his presents. We got her a bunch of cute summer clothes and a little toy, that she didn't seem to care much about. The really cute thing was that she really seemed to like her clothes and she carried them around.

Annie wasnt very thrilled with the cake. She definitely didn't care to eat much of it, instead she pretty much just played with it.

Once she did get a taste of it she did like it a little but she didn't end up eating much of it. I just can't believe that she is one! It is so fun to have this little lady and watch her grow!

 

Boca Raton Baby!!

Back in January Kevy came home one night and told me that he was going on a work conference to Florida in April and that he was hoping that I could come with him. We weren't planning on taking a trip together for another few years because we knew we couldn't afford it, but with this being a work trip we weren't going to have to pay for that many things for me, so we decided that it was a can't miss situation. Unfortunately we found out that we couldn't book my ticket for a while because it wasnt a 100 percent thing. We would have to wait a few more weeks. The waiting was seriously killing me because I had already "gone there" so to speak, as in thinking about what it would be like to have a vacation with just Kevin and it was really hard to think it might not happen. But I really think that it was much needed and that Heavenly Father helped it workout because everything started to fall into place to let me go and it worked out perfectly.

Even as I write this I can't believe what a perfect trip it was and how amazing it was to get away with my Love and have some time with just him. It felt so goo to recharge and feel like someone other than just a mom. Not that being a mom isn't the most amazing thing to be, because it is, but it was really nice to be a tiny bit selfish and think of me and Kevin for once and just be a wife and a person.

We traveled on a thursday and didnt get in until pretty late and so we just got to the hotel and then we went to bed. We wanted to get a little adjusted to the time because the next day we wanted to not sleep the day away and not get out and do something. I wanted us to do something a little bit out of the ordinary so I found a groupon for kayaking so I booked it. When we got to the rental place we were a little bit worried about tipping over so we didn't bring any stuff with us in the kayak. We just left our stuff in the car so we didn't get any actual pictures on the kayak, which is a little sad becayse it was soo cool! We went on a river that connects to the ocean and there are all these giant homes on it that are really cool. It was really fun. we were the only people out in a kayak but there were quite a few people in boats and when they would pass us it wold make huge waves. THere were even some that were total jerks and drove past us really fast. One was a guy with a small boat called Bangstick. Nice. who names their boat that? We made it down to a small beach where we rested a minute and then we turned around. By the end our arms were a bit tired but it was really fun. We then walked down to the beach and found a fun little grill where we had lunch. This picture was our attempt at a selfie. Can you tell we dont have any expericence with these? All we got was the parking lot instead of the beautiful water that was behind the parking lot.

Here was Kevy at the lunch place. The burgers were really good. It was so nice to go out to eat and just sit and visit. We dont get out much and going out with kids is so darn awful!

After we ate we went back up to the beach by our hotel, we had heard it was a good beach. It really was so beautiful. It was a windy day but the water was so warm and so clear. I love the florida beaches they are so much better than the California ones. Plus this one was so empty. It was so nice! We are not into the whole crowd thing so we really loved being isolated.

 

Kevy was so cute and he immediately wanted to look for shells for the girls. It was so cute. I went in there too and it was pretty addicting because there were so many good ones and we just wanted to find even more and more. After the beach I was feeling really gross from the ocean so we went back to the hotel and the pool felt amazing!! It was so warm and it felt so nice to get all the salt off. We just enjoyed being able to actually swim without having to constantly be scanning for kids and making sure they are all okay.

This is a really bad picture of me, my face looks like a ghost next to Kevy's but I really made a conscious effort not to let my face get any sun. It ages me so fast so it is best if it just stays white. Kevy got a little fried because he didn't put on any sunscreen for our kayak adventure, but it wasn't too bad. He wore his t-shirt so luckily it was just his face and legs. I had made sure to put on plenty of sunscreen but I didnt put any on my shins because for some reason I thought they would be covered in a kayak and they got fried and I was in a little pain that night.

We went to a really nice outdoor mall that had a bunch of places to eat and we picked the mexican place. I am so glad we did because it was some of the best food I have ever had.Even now I am craaving the salsa and the Carne Asada we had. Amazing. Since we aren't drinkers there isn't too much to do at night so we went and saw a movie in a super upscale movie theater. It was so nice to actually get to go to the show! Can you tell we don't get out much?

The next day we decided to go down to the everglades and go on an airboat ride. It was a little bit of a drive but because we didn't have five little monkeys in the backseat, it was worth the drive to do something that we really can't do anywhere else. I have done one of these before, but I knew that Kevin would really enjoy it, and just like I thought he did.

Here is a picture of one of the boats that we rode on. The guy giving our tour did a really good job explaining about the alligators. It was really neat to learn about them, and to see them up close in their naturral habitat was something that is just so diferent than seeing them in a zoo.

It was fun too because they had a little museum and a show to go to as well. It was cool because this guy was back there with these alligators and he was showing how their jaws worked and stuff, it was nuts.He also was poking them in the eyes to show how their eyelids worked. I thought we were going to see the alligator attack him after he did that!

We went into the museum and there were these cute little turtles sitting on each other. I had to get a picture for the girls.

After our airboat ride we headed back up to Boca Raton because it was time to check in to the resort. It was so nice and it was so crazy to stay in a place like that because we will never be spending that kind of money on a hotel room on our own. We first were given a pretty crappy room, but it smellled like cigarette smoke really bad and so we called and asked if we could get a different room and they gave us a really nice room in a different area that had just been renovated and was much much better..

This was the view from our hotel room.

The next day we went to the beach club part of the hotel and spent the morning on the beach and by the pool. It was so nice and relaxing. There were these really cool giant kites that they put up
We ate at another really good restaurant and saw another movie together. The food the whole trip was amazing!! It was such a relaxing lovely vacation together.

On monday Kevin gave me a spa day while he was in class. It was the greatest thing! I went there early in the morning after breakfast before my massage and went and swam in this pool. The setting was so breathtaking and I had the pool all to myself. It was awesome! He got me a hot stone massage and it was seriously the best. After my massage I went back and got ready so I could eat lunch with Kevy and then I went back to the spa for the rest of the afternoon and just hung out and read. I love to read but I just haven't found much time in recent years to do it. A time and a season my mom would always say. It was really nice though to have all that time to just do something for me. That night we had dinner at the beach club out on the patio by the pools and it was really neat. They even had a firework show and Kevy and I happened to be out on the beach when they did it. It couldn't have been more perfect. Unfortunately we didn't get any good pictures that night.

I just had to take some pictures of the spa because it was one of the fanciest places I have ever been.

 

 

I took this picture because I wanted one of this yacht that was so huge but you can't really see it. It was crazy to see how some people live. But seeing how they live and how they act, I realized that I love my simple life and I am grateful for all my blessings.

We had to get a picture of the lobby because it was just so fancy. although this picture doesn't do it justice.

There are not words for how amazing of a time that we had together. It was everything I dreamed of and more! I want to go back!! I am so grateful to my parents for watching our kids for us so that we could do this. I sure love being with my honey!!

 

Annie is ONE!!

My sweet little girl is one! These years have been flying by faster and faster. I think back to when I had Lizzy and her first year felt like it took forever. And now by number five, I just need it to slow down! I feel so torn as my babies grow. I love these big people they turn into and how fun it is to have fun with them and talk with them, but at the same time I just love these little babies! I love watching them grow and learn new things.

My Annie is so different than I originally thought she would be. She came out so calm and quiet and was the very best baby for the first few months! Now she is a busy little loud mouth! She will screech and squeal so loud if she wants something. She is seriously into everything too. I thought she was going to be another Janie, but after reading about how Jane was as a baby and how she was such a snuggler and loved to just sit on my lap, I know that she and Annie are nothing alike. Annie will not snuggle with me to save her life! She is so interested in everything that is going on. She wants me to hold her if I am busy and walking around, but if I am sitting down, there is no way she is going to let me hold her. One of the new things she has recently started to do is jabbering a lot. We were in the car one day and the kids were watching Despicable Me, and the minions were saying "beedo beedo" and Anne started saying it too. And in her little cute voice, it is to die for!

I couldn't get her to hold still to get a picture. Every picture I took of her was fuzzy because she kept walking and moving every time I took it.

Annie started walking on march 28th. She didnt really seem like she was even close to doing it just a couple of weeks before and then all of a sudden she just decided one day to do it. She just kept trying and trying until she got it. She was bound and determined. I never did blog much about her crawling, but I need to write this down because I don't want to forget. She army crawled first which was my first baby to do that. It took her a while to start crawling the regular way. And when she did she did it the funniest way, she would crawl with her left fist and her right hand. She never opened her hand which I thought was so interesting! She also was a really early stair climber. For some reason I thought I remembered that my kids didn't do that until after walking, so when I kept finding her upstairs I was shocked to realize that she was climbing up by herself!

This is one of her favorite places to play right now. She loves to climb in and just hang out, until she is done and she can't get out so she starts squealing.

Another place she likes to go is out to the garden to eat the dirt. She will sneak out there and go and stuff dirt in her mouth. I try not to worry about it because I guess I ate a lot of dirt when I was a kid and I survived.

I took her to her one year checkup and she is my smallest girl so far. She weighed in at 16 lbs. 9 oz. She is just my little teenie tiny! I really love how tiny she is, it sure makes it easier to lug her around.

I love that she has a good amount of hair, so that I can put it in cute little ponies and stuff. I just thought she looked so cute with this big bow on her head.

Annie is an okay eater, sometimes she eats really good and other times not so much. I never know what she is going to like and what she isn't. She absolutely loves bread. Which is completely opposite of Russy. One of her very favorite things to eat is Peanut Butter and jelly sandwiches, if she sees me with one and I haven't given it to her yet, she will start squealing and crying like "give that to me right now" Here I had given her some spaghetti and she thought it was good I guess because she gobbled it right up.

Annie is a serious dishwasher diver. Thats what we call her because when she hears that thing open no matter where she is or what she is doing she is right there to start unloading it. It is cute but at the same time it drives me nuts!! She is also my little pile chaser, when I am sweeping the floor she follows me around strictly so she can mess up my plie. I used to be able to keep it away from her but she is too fast now and I have to do my sweeping when she is down for a nap.

She gets into any and everything she can. Here she had gotten into the Fundip and just dipped her whole face into it. She loves to just stick her face in things. Now one of the things she likes to do is if there is a puddle of water on the ground she will lap it up like a litte dog. She waves bye bye , especailly when she is going to bed. When I am holding her she loves to put her hand out in front of us. I am not sure what she is doing, but it is really cute. I am so glad I have this little girlie to be mine! She is so busy, but I love her so much!