Utah

I wasn't too sure how the kids were going to do on this trip. I knew it was a LOT of driving. It was a place they have never been with people they aren't very familiar with. I was so pleasantly surprised. Literally as soon as we got out of the car at my grandparents house Saffryn had warmed up to my grandparents and loved exploring their house! I couldn't believe it. My shy and reserved girl really opened up. Her and Pierce just did great. They didn't take great naps but crashed so hard everynight. They absolutely loved getting doted upon by so many people and had a great time. Dan and I loved being in cooler weather, lovely scenery and just l-o-v-e-d seeing my family. It was a GREAT trip. So glad we went. Thanks to my grandparents for keeping us for a week! As I already mentioned I took alot of pictures so there will be several blog posts about this trip. But for now enjoy some pictures of our first day at my grandparents!



Grandpa and his great grandbabies!




Pierce and my grandpa




Momma and Pierce. Gotta love the floppy hat!




Saffryn loved watching the dogs play. You can see my shadow too..LOL




Crash playing with my grandparent's dog Shadow. Trust me when I say he thought the long drive was worth it!



Daddy and Pierce relaxing outside. The weather was just PERFECT! Such a great change from our heat wave back in Kansas!



Saffryn loved Shadow!




Both of the dogs were so good with the kids!





Saffryn enjoyed playing in the dogs water pool! Behind her is my grandparent's vegetable garden and the old barn. They used to have lots of animals. Now they just have some barn cats :)

Stay tuned for more on our vacation!

Utah and Colorado

We just got back from a week and a half long vacation to you guessed it...Utah and Colorado! :)


My Mom, Step-Dad, Oma and Opa, Sister and Brother-in law live in Colorado. Dan's Brother and sister in law (and grandma, aunt and cousin) live in Colorado. Both of sides of my grandparents, almost all of my aunts and uncles and cousins live in Utah. So we got to see a lot of family...mostly mine.

We left Wichita Wednesday afternoon and made it to Colby, Kansas before we had any major melt downs. But we HAD to stop in Colby because both kids had had enough. I never realized before but there is actually a playground in the "Oasis on the Plains"!!! THANK YOU!!! Totally saved the day. Dan played with Saffryn while I fed Pierce, walked Crash and then played with both of them for a bit. The sun went down and we set off again. Both kids slept until we got into Colorado Springs! WOOHOO! Good job kids.

My mom is now known as Yaya (Saffryn's idea). And Saffryn just loved Yaya's and Papa Steve's house! They have two dogs (always an area of interest to my little girl) and lots and lots of fun toys for her to play with. It was a really fun day with them. Then we drove up to my sisters house! SO CUTE!!!! We loved getting to see her and Steve and play in their super fun backyard. Kicking myself for not getting pictures that day...sigh.

The next day we left the house at 5am. Thats right you read that correctly. We were on the road to Utah at 5 AM!!!! Our hope was the kids would sleep for a few hours and we could make some decent progress without them realizing they were in the car. IT WORKED! They both slept until Rifle, Colorado! Then we stopped and had a long breakfast and hit the road again and made it to my grandparents around 2pm. I don't think the kids even shed a tear that trip. Can we say troopers!!!!

Now I did get pictures of our time in Utah...only about 150. LOL! So now I have the daunting task of organizing them. Well here are a few on our way out to Utah to give you a little taste :) I will be working on the rest ASAP! I know you are on the edge of your seat...haha.

My cute little sweetie relaxing in the car



The car packed to the brim. Crash is back there somewhere..LOL



Pierce napping a little in the car



Peek-a-Boo!




Dan laughing at me being ridicoulos! If you are curious about the background that is right outside of Grand Junction, Colorado :)

 Welp...look forward to more...about 145 pictures more..hahah :)

P.S the spell check wasn't working...I am a terrible speller...If something is really mispelled just smile and keep reading!

18 Months Apart

I have recently been reflecting on having my children 18 months apart. I must say the first few weeks (minus the one where my mother was here and did everything) were HARD! I mean really hard. Like every day I felt like I had no idea what I was doing kind of hard. But then it slowly got easier. We all adjusted, I got a little sleep and started being realistic about life with two small children. And I can say now in all honesty it is so great.




Playing in "Coupe" together!




It was a tight squeeze but they didn't seem to notice :)




What our table now looks like. Saffryn in a chair like a big girl and Pierce in the high chair!


Saffryn doesn't even remember what life was like without Pierce. She asks about him all the time. She really enjoys seeing him smile and engage with her. She talks to him in the car seat now and is getting so much better at sharing my attention! Pierce is such a joy to our family and I cannot even remember what it was like without him. Yes having two can still be hard and a juggling act, but they are just the most special gift God has given us.




They love to pay together!




Daddy finds ways for both kids to play! :)


I cannot describe what I feel when I see them playing with each other. I love that they are going to be close. I love that they are going to be able to do the same things and go through similar stages their whole life. My heart feels so full. They are worth every single second of work they bring. Actually they are worth it times 5...no maybe 10...ok lets just say they are beyond special to us. WE LOVE YOU KIDS!!!!!!!



LOVES!



My sweet babies!

So to sum it up yes I really enjoy having them 18 months apart. Although I think I just enjoy having them. It doesn't matter how far apart they are. They are irreplaceable :)

"Pierce Together"

We were just recently very blessed by a neighbor! I have been looking for a double jogging stroller. I had my search narrowed down to two different brands...but could not decide!!! One day my neighbor stopped by and I asked her which double stroller she had used and if she enjoyed it. She tells me about it then proceeds to tell me she doesn't use it anymore and we could have it. WOW!!!! So incredibly generous!

When she gave it to us I showed it to Saffryn. I told her she and Pierce could ride in it together. She got SO excited and started happily screaming "Pierce together. Pierce together!!!!" It was so sweet. But what is even sweeter is seeing these two cuties actually riding together!

What a major blessing this was to our family! We have already used it several times and expect to use it even more when the weather is no longer 100 Degrees!!!!



Their first time in the jogging stroller together. Don't let their serious faces fool you they LOVE it!




I cannot get enough of my sweet babies! They fill my heart with such JOY!



Yes they were holding hands. Yes it was on their own. Yes it brought me to tears.

First Time

We have been talking about the potty in our house recently. We have been leaving the bathroom doors open (judge if you want to) so she can see us going to the bathroom. A couple of her friends have been sitting and using the potty, too! So she has been wanting to sit on the potty and go,too. So my sweet little girl has been sitting on the potty when it crosses her mind...and doing just that sitting! LOL. No potty at all. Not a big deal to us, I am not ready to potty train yet anyway. So I have just been letting her sit on the potty when she wants to and continue to talk about it and show her! Every once and a while she has told us that she was going potty while she was doing it in her diaper. We are getting closer :-)

So fast forward a little bit to today. She was sitting on the couch with me and I thought I smelled something. I checked her diaper and nothing. All clean. She looked up at me and said, "poopy". I said, " Are you about to go poopy?" " yup". Me, "Ok. Finish up." Then a little light bulb went off in her head and she said, "poopy in toilet. poopy in toilet!"

So we rushed to the bathroom, clothes off and on the toilet. She made a fake grunting noise and I figured it would be like before and she would just "sit". But then she got real serious and I asked her, " Is it coming?" She said, "It coming." AND IT CAME!!!!!!

Woooooohoooo! She is awesome! She flushed the poopy away and said, "I did it."!!! We are so so so proud of her! She is proud of herself! I really wasn't expecting success so soon!

Now we will continue to take cues from her. If she asks to go potty great. If she goes in her diaper no big deal. I really feel like for her to be successful it has to be on her terms.

Stay tuned for more adventures of potty time :-)

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Miss Independent

My little sass-a-frass (as my frind Terri calls her) is quite independent these days. She is doing so many things on her own. The other day while I was watching my friend's little girl Saffryn asked me for some crackers. I said, "no not right now, maybe when she gets picked up." I knew Saffryn was not starving and all I could picture was crackers everywhere while I am trying to play with/watch the other two children. Well Saffryn runs into the bathroom where we keep her step stool. She takes the step stool into the kitchen, opens the pantry and sets it down. She climbs up and grabs the crackers she wanted. She opens the box and comes to the living room with us and starts eating. I laughed so hard! What a clever girl!!!! How on Earth could I get mad at such great problem solving skills! Oh my Miss Independent please don't grow up too fast!

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No More

Of this:

Because:

I have had to say goodbye to our afternoon naps in my bed because he is now a rollie pollie! I am proud of him. He has been working on rolling over for quite sometime now. But I am also a little sad. I enjoyed our afternoon snuggle time in bed together. I guess that means I have to sneak more snuggle time in throughout the day! I love this baby boy!!!!!!

P.S. He is so funny. Once he finally makes it on his tummy he gets angry...LOL. Silly baby :)