Camping and 4-wheeling

We love camping! We had our first trip out this year a few weeks ago. We just went for one night to start the year off. We went with some neighbors, Aaron and Star, and their 5 year old girl and 3 year old boy to a place about an hour south. We had a BLAST!!!! We took our 4-wheeler and they brought 2 adult ones and a little bitty kid one.

The day before we left we had to get Isabelle a sleeping bag and us a new tent. Mike's tent of 19 years died last summer. As he was duct-taping us in, me 5 1/2 months pregnant, he said, "Hope you don't have to go to the bathroom tonight" HA! Anyway, that was the last trip for that tent. When we were getting a new tent, it rang up as only 15 BUCKS!!!! We told the guy that was wrong but he gave it to us for $15 anyway. We really like our new cheap tent!

What's better than hot dogs, cheetos, s'more's and a camp fire? Not much! Isabelle loved every second. Jake did pretty good. We got there just as the sun was going down, so he kept going off to explore and with him being black, we couldn't see him even when he was there. The next day after running after the 4-wheelers he didn't wander once. We learned our lesson: Run him as soon as we get to camp so he's too tired to explore.

By time we got the tent set up and pack and play up, Michael was done. He put himself to sleep by getting a hold of his beanie to suck on, while waiting for me to get the sleeping bags situated.

It was a cold night. Michael ended up sleeping in the sleeping bag with me snuggled purely because I was sure he was cold despite his 3 layers of clothes. At some point early in the am, Isabelle woke up and Mike didn't care why and told her to get in our sleeping bag too. So from about 4 or 5 in the morning, we all snuggled together in the sleeping bag.

The next morning was 4-wheeling time!!! Isabelle got to drive the little one by herself. It kind of scared her, so Mike made sure to get her on to ride it with him. Then she was asking all day for a ride.

Getting ready to go...

Michael hanging out with his toys. Later in the afternoon he was getting fussy. I put him in the snuggli and took him on a ride. He LOVED it! It settled him right down.

Mike teaching her how to drive it

About to go

"Ride with Daddy!" was what we heard from that point on.

The kids playing around. They have a good time playing together.

These sunglasses crack me up! She refused to put them on the way they are supposed to be on. They had to be upside down. She ate like 4 bowls of Cheetos! Her face was perma-orange for the day. We had a fun time and I'm ready to get some more camping in.

My Mighty Man

Michael is now 5 months old! Where has this time gone? A little post about my cute little man. I started calling him mighty man when he was 2 weeks old and rolling over from tummy to back. His physical milestones continue to be TOO early in my book. He's physically very very strong. He loved to stand in my lap at 7 weeks. He started rolling over back to tummy 1 week before he turned 4 months. He's been sitting unassisted since 4 1/2 months, but still a little wobbly. And also during his 4th month started figuring out the army crawl. This kid is on a mission! He's now 5 months and getting into the crawling stance and concentrating on how to go forward. He can't stand to stay put. He has to always have a toy. Sometimes his hands or feet will suffice, but he much prefers a toy or someone interacting with him. He's so happy to play on the floor for quite a while.

We have figured out he is allergic to milk. After my 3 month post where I said he was being happy, I jinxed myself. He still was crying ALOT! He was still spitting up ALOT, and he was still tiny. He had some of the worst eczema I've ever seen and his whole body felt like a lizard. Thanks to Aveeno, we were able to help a little, but he would still just scratch away. When changing his diaper you have to be fast or else he scratches the heck out of his upper thighs. He also can't EVER be naked or he scratches his chest til it's bleeding. He does LOVE the bath tub and is too busy splashing to scratch. Since I have completely cut milk out of my diet (have I mentioned milk is in EVERYTHING that is delicious?) we have seen a huge improvement in his eczema, crying, sleeping, and overall happiness. He also looks like he might be gaining weight. He's starting to grow out of some of his 0-3 month clothes. He's finally becoming a normal baby.

He loves to be put to bed. He always smiles and makes a funny giggle when I snuggle him to rock him or put him in his bed. I lay him on his back and he immediately flips himself to his tummy and he sings to himself for a minute and out he goes.

He's discovering Jake. And Jake has finally decided Michael isn't going anywhere and has quit being naughty. Jake now hovers over Michael very protectively like he used to with Isabelle as a baby.

He likes to suck on anything BUT a paci. He has figured out how to get ahold of his car seat tent when nothing else is around.

His favorite person is Isabelle. She can make him laugh better than anyone else. His face lights up every time he sees her. She's overly loving most of the time, but apparently he likes that. She has even changed his poopy diaper without making a mess (they were both asleep, or so I thought). We're waiting a few more months before she gets full diaper duty. :)

He's gives out his smiles so freely now that he's not in constant pain! We love our little Mighty Man and his cute, determined personality.

We Love Jill and Tommy

My little sister and her husband live about 30 minutes away. It's so fun to have siblings close and we get to see them often. They like to come visit/play. I really think they just want to see my kids, but I'll take them any way I can. Tonight they came over for later afternoon play, dinner, cookies and games. They helped with dinner and a blow-out situation that required a bath, cookies, and putting kids down for bed. I LOVE when they come play as do my kids. Isabelle asks for them often and loves to talk to Jill on the phone. "I NEEEEED to talk to Jill." It's pretty cute. We love Jill and Tommy!!!!



My handsome little mighty man and Jill

3 Months!

I can't believe Michael is already 3 months! He's finally growing and quit crying all the time. The last couple of days have been a great improvement. Two mostly happy days in a row! At his 2 month appointment, he was still only 9 lbs. He was spitting up constantly and was starting to not sleep. We put him on acid reflux medicine and he's gained 2 pounds in 1 month! He finally graduated from newborn clothes to 0-3 month the day before his 3 month birthday. The medicine helped him not cry all the time and quit spitting up everything he ate and he started sleeping again. He still was really fussy 3-4 hours of the day. So, I have gone off of dairy and in the last 2 days he's finally a happy baby!!! I'm drinking lactose free milk which isn't near as nasty as I was expecting but it's really sweet. I haven't cut dairy out 100%, but the dairy I eat is minimal. I don't know why I didn't do this earlier. I got so sick when I ate ice cream when I was pregnant with him. And when we were in Mexico, I didn't have any dairy and he was super happy.

Anway, poor little guy has had a rough start, but he's finally getting the hang of this whole body thing. He loves his little hangy toy thingy. He will play under that forever grabbing the toys and stuffing them in his mouth.



He loves hanging out with sister. He watches her and always gives her smiles even when no one else gets them. She sings to him and it almost always calms him down at least for a few minutes. He also doens't panic when she picks him up and doesn't set him down quite so softly.


He's happy on the floor as long as there are toys.


He loves to sleep on his tummy! Every time I put him down for tummy time he rolls over and rolls over and rolls over, or he falls asleep. Only today did he actually stay on his tummy awake and play with the toys. In the process he scooted completely off the blanket he was on. He's an AWESOME night sleeper!!!! He sleeps from 7:30ish-7:30ish and I feed him around 11 before I go to bed! He then takes a great morning 2 hour nap, but then doesn't really do more than a couple of 20 minute naps until bedtime. He's got the cutest smile and it's so fun to see it all the time. He also started laughing last week. He's really ticklish on his tummy and feet. He has been so much fun the last couple of days!

We have HAIR!!!

Isabelle's hair is growing back nicely. Soft fine baby hair fell out and course thick adult MIKE hair grew in. Right now her and Mike's hair looks exactly the same. The same hair line, color, thickness, everything! She asks to put bows and ponytails in her hair. It's not quite long enough, but I oblige her anyway. She's really into fixing her own hair. This morning she even put mousse in it too. She put in a head band with a bow and 3 lady bug hair clips. It was awesome!

Our Mexico Trip...only 2 weeks late!

At the beginning of February, we took a great trip down to Acapulco, Mexico with a stop at my parents and I got to go HOME!!!! I hadn't been home to Texas for almost 3 years!

The trip begins... The kids were perfect on the plane on the way down! We were glad there was no one in front of Isabelle on the plane. She just couldn't keep her feet still and she loved playing with the tray. Isabelle has flown quite a bit and has always done really well, except on our way home. There was someone in front of her and she was super happy which meant she was super loud. We kept trying to fill her mouth with food, and use our church voices but she was just happy and loud.


This was Michael's first airplane ride. We were glad the plane wasn't full and Michael got to take a good little nap on the seat next to me. He did really well on all the flights except the last one also. He cried alot! We were totally "those people" on the way home with the loud 2 year old and crying baby.


We spent a couple days at my parent's house. We spent the first day finishing my two sewing projects I wanted done for Mexico. I made a sling and a car seat tent. The second day we went to the Houston Zoo. I sure do love that zoo. Isabelle absolutely loves the zoo and had a great time. We did have some grand potty adventures. A trip with a still somewhat freshly potty trained kid was an adventure.


We picked Mike's parents up at the airport, they spent one night at my parent's and the next morning we left Isabelle with my parents and were off to Mexico with Mike's parents for a week. It was pretty much a piece of heaven. It was HOT and HUMID! It was a great break from the Utah winter. We always have a fun time with Mike's parents on trips. We play lots of games, eat lots of yummy food, and enjoy the company. It was also nice to have a very willing grandma to watch the baby so Mike and I could play in the pool and ocean together.


This was one of the nicest beaches I've ever been to. The water was warm, the waves were perfect for some great boogie boarding, the sand was fine and there were no rocks and it had a very shallow slope perfect for wading.

Michael did great on the trip. He slept just about anywhere and liked the water. The last day or so he started to get really tired of his car seat and wanted to be held more.

The sunsets were beautiful.


This 2 bedroom condo was quite fancy. This was Michael's room.

Of all the places to be when you forget your sunglasses...Mexico. Don't you love my $4 hidiousness?! Every time I see them I just start laughing! They worked at that was all that matters!




We went to a fort in Acapulco that was kinda cool.

Isabelle had a blast with my parents. They have a cat that scratched her a few times, but she still continued to torture her. She didn't ask for us once until the last night when Mom was putting her to bed she asked for Daddy, and that was it! We Skyped her one day, but she wouldn't talk to us. She's used to doing that with my mom, but not us. It was pretty funny. When she saw us at the airport, she was about 20 yards away. She screamed and started running at us with her arms outstretched, and yelled at the top of her lungs, "HI! Hi! Hi! Hi, Mommy! Hi Daddy! Hi! Hi! Hi!" all the way to us. It was classic and we were sad none of us had a camera handy. Mom spoiled her by making her a baby sling, just like mine, a matching hat and bag, a church bag, and diapers for her dolls, Sarah and Abby. Here she is with Abby in the sling with a blanket and Isabelle in her new kitty hat. It was hilarious to watch her put her dolls in it and bounce and sing. She is truly a little mommy!


It was an awesome trip! I decided I need to take a trip with just my new baby every time we have a 2-3ish month old. It doesn't need to be as extravagant as Mexico, but just us and the new baby. It was great one on one time. Mike had barely even gotten to hold him until this trip because he's always handling the toddler, while I take care of the baby. Until this trip, I hadn't really gotten to sit and play with him uninterrupted while he was happy. Jill and Tommy were nice enough to house/dog sit for us. I know it's a long drive for them, but they seemed to have a good time and my house was so clean when I got home!!! We had a great time and it was so hard to come home to the snow!

Seriously Slackin!

So my blog background is still Christmas. I think with the new addition of my cute baby boy, it's time to give something up, seasonal blog backgrounds is getting voted off the island! Hopefully sometime this week I'll fix it and leave it. Plus we just took an awesome trip to Mexico and I've got fun pictures to post.

During my relaxing and wonderful vacation, I had lots of time to reflect on things. Sure enough what I thought about is worse than I thought. After being home for 3 days I feel it creeping back too quickly. I've been having a blast being a mom but am having a hard time with the balancing act of what's really and truly important. I have a really hard time sitting down and relaxing for "me time" because my "to do" list just got longer with another kid but my day didn't get any longer. The first thing to go has been anything for me, which often has included necessities such as showers, my potty breaks, and meals on MANY occasions. Mike asks me to sit and watch a show with him and all I can think about is the dirty shower or the floor that needs to be mopped or the pile of socks that need to be matched and I often say no. Even when I'm taking it easy on the phone with someone, I'm still bustling around the house doing stuff. I do spend alot of time playing with my kids, but that still is not rejuvinating me. At the end of the day, my family is well taken care of and the house is usually cleaner than when I woke up, but I haven't done anything for me. I can't remember the last time I picked up a book even for a few minutes or worked on my sewing projects. I usually have 10 minutes of quick email, blog check, or facebook and that's the extent of anything quiet and rejuvinating. Even dumb things like painting my toenails have disappeared. I'm perfectly happy to give those things up if it means I get to be a mom. The sacrifices a mother is willing to make is absolutely shocking to me! Until I had children, I never realized how many things moms are willing to give up for their kids. I'm so grateful for the chance we've had to be parents, but I know the road I'm on is a road for future disaster. Mom's that don't take care of themselves eventually lose it and their family suffers way more than 30 minutes of mommy alone time daily. I don't want that to happen. I'm trying to remind myself to take care of myself not only with food and showers, but to do something for me, so I have a mother left to offer to my sweet kids and a wife left for my ever loving hubby.

Mike has been so patient with this crazy lady! He's getting jipped in all the crazy. What used to be a mad dash to dog pile dad as soon as the alarm goes off has turned into "Isabelle make your bed," changing a diaper, or something else "more important." I used to make time to hang out with him even if it was sitting on the floor of the computer room while he played a game. No longer, I'm back to the pile of socks or the cluttered closet. That is the road of getting divorced with the last kid leaves home. So tonight, it's 20 minutes on my blog. Sure enough at the end of this I'm ready to tackle another closet, get ready for bed, relax with a book for a few minutes, and a great big hug and kiss for the hubby! The vacuum will be there in the morning!!

Our Sweet Cheeks

I had to write a little blog about Isabelle because I think the world of her. We've started calling her sweet cheeks, because she gives us the funniest smile when we do. She really has been a great kid up to this point. Sure she gets disobedient and attitudy when she's tired or hungry, but so do I, so I can't blame her. She's really a little person now. She speaks in complete sentences and is potty trained. There's nothing baby left about her now. She's been such a great help since Michael has been born. She's so patient when I'm taking care of him and can't help her immediately. She will often get diapers, burp clothes, wipes etc. She'll even pick out his clothes.

We have so much fun together. She helps me get the chores done in the morning so we can play later. She helps with laundry, she makes her bed, she cleans up whatever I ask her to, and loads and unloads the dishwasher. She also loves to brush her teeth. When I get ready in the morning she asks for "Oderent, chap stick, and bug spray." (Translation: Deodorant, lip gloss, and body spray.) After the work is done, we play play play. She loves music, books, coloring, painting, "Go Away Monster" (ie the Monster game), puzzles, and most of all her babies. She also absolutely LOVES nursery and playing with her friends. She asks me every day to have a friend over or to go to someone's house. She's going to be a little social butterfly.

She had her 2 year check up last week. She's in the 56th percentile for height and 51st for weight. She's totally average so far. I often call her my tank because she's so solid, but she's just built like me. She's an awesome eater and still hardly drinks anything other than milk or water. She loves cucumbers, tomatoes, clementines, whole wheat bread, meat, still flour tortillas which she always has to have with a cheese stick, applesauce, and her favorite snack is raisins and goldfish together. She can't have one without the other.

She's a happy kid with a great imagination. It's so funny to watch her play. She copies me all the time. If you ever don't know what your quirks are, have a 2 year old and watch. You'll see them really quickly. All the phrases you say too much, your mannerisms and bad habits. She's a silly little girl in general and I love her to pieces! I'm so glad I get to be her mom!

More Sleeping Pictures

Isabelle has been moved from a toddler bed our guest queen bed. We just have the mattress on the floor for a while just in case...



Isabelle's cousin, Sydney, came for another visit (along with the rest of my brother's family. We had so much fun.) We let the girls have their first sleep over in the same bed. It actually wasn't too much of a disaster. When we all went to bed we checked on them and found this...


Michael isn't a huge paci baby, but every once in a while he really wants it. This was last night, he was holding his paci in with his finger which he managed to get out of his swaddle blanket.

Merry Christmas a few weeks late!

We spent the night at Mike's parent's with his sister, Sharon and her family. We had so much fun! The pictures are out of order, get over it. We had to wake Isabelle up at 8:30 and after we looked at Santa stuff, she said, "Nap time." I let her take a nap. It was only 30 minutes or so, but then she was ready for presents. She took another nap before all the extended family came over.

Here's the kids at the top of the stairs in their new jammies. Jonathan's holding Michael, David, Isabelle, Sarah is not looking, and Aaron. This was the best we got with all 6 of the kids. They were just too excited. Oh well!


Little Michael's loot. What more can a kid want?! Diapers and wipes!!! Whaaa Hoo!


Isabelle got this cute doll swing and a doll that goes in the bath tub, a book and another snap and style doll. She's in heaven!


Mike got one of those remote control helicopters. I don't know who was more fun to watch, Mike and his toy or Isabelle and her dolls! He loved this thing! Unfortunately, in Jake's rebellion of us bringing home a new baby, it got destroyed this week. No need to mention, the dog got in more trouble than I have seen since he was a tiny puppy and ate my carpet.


Isabelle and I hanging out on Christmas Eve.


From Mike's grandma on Christmas Eve, Isabelle got a pack and play for her dolls. He is in heaven!


Isabelle and David waiting to open presents, surprisingly, patiently.


Isabelle got one of those plastic cars from Mike's parents. She only had it a few hours before we found her with a package of wipes, "washing" her car. That girl is a cleaning monster! She loves to drive that thing around our house and it even has a garage, behind the Foosball table.


My little Christmas Cheer! She was all ready for the extended family to come Christmas evening and was so festive! We had a great Christmas with lots of Mike's family.