One Year Older and Wiser Too

Yesterday was my birthday. I enjoyed receiving all the phone calls and messages wishing me a happy day. I don't really feel any older, but then again I still think I'm 22 and wonder where the time has gone. Honestly, I always forget how old I am and have to stop and think about it before I answer. I think that happened to me once I had my first child. I started aging really quickly, but my mind still thinks time has hardly gone by. Now I'm 28. 

I think my kids were extra excited to see me on my birthday because they both woke up close to an hour earlier than normal. Yay. (insert sarcasm here) Despite that, we had a nice day hanging around the house and taking it easy. Macie loves birthdays and was very excited all day long. Josh found a delicious pie place and picked up chocolate cream and banana cream pies for dessert (no sugar added, of course!). We had a small group of friends and family come over in the evening to celebrate. It was great. Thanks Josh for taking care of my special day! 

Where Have You Been All My Life?

I recently purchased a Vita-Mix. Happy early birthday to me! I can't even begin to describe how much I love my new appliance. Let's start with this tidbit:

The results of a 2008 study at the University of Toronto clearly indicate that the Vita-Mix has the ability to disrupt plant cell wall structure and significantly reduce food particle size which may enhance the bioavailability of essential nutrients in fruits and vegetables. 

Basically, it's a great way to eat healthy and I'm all about that. My siblings will testify that I am obsessed with my Vita-Mix. I easily use it at least twice daily, sometimes up to five or six times. You may now be thinking, what in the world is she blending so often? Well, basically everything. Fruit smoothies, shakes, soups, baby food...you name it and I've tried it. I LOVE this thing. It blends almost anything into a  perfectly smooth consistency in less than a minute. I could go on and on about the features and versatility of my Vita-Mix, but I've been told that they are only exciting to me. Ha ha!

I am especially excited about the fact that I make Ty fresh baby food with a lot higher nutritional value than the jarred stuff. One look at bright green, fresh green beans next to a jar of dark greenish-looking green beans is enough for me to turn away and never go back. The taste difference is remarkable too, obviously. If you've ever sampled baby food (especially the veggies!) you know what I'm talking about. Why would I put it in my baby's mouth if it is repulsive to me? Fresh foods taste so much better. I've had people tell me that making baby food is a good idea but too time consuming. Well, my response to that is of course! Anything would be considered time consuming compared to unscrewing a lid off of a jar. 

My new-found love for blending has intensified my desire for fresh produce. I can't get my hands on enough produce! I'm having a great time experimenting and sampling foods that we didn't normally eat before, mainly larger quantities of different kinds of vegetables. Regardless, we still have a fruit smoothie daily (we started doing this months and months ago, I can't remember when) to give us a tasty dose of vitamins and antioxidants. It's no secret that diets high in fruits and vegetables are proven to reduce the risk of chronic diseases. Yes, I realize I may be a little over the top about it all, but that is just me. I love feeling healthy and my Vita-Mix is one more thing that makes my life a little easier. Just check it out and you'll know what I'm talking about.  

A young Vita-Mix fan.

My super cute smoothie helper.

Thought You Should Know

So yeah, I'm updating my blog on our new iMac and I totally love it! Sadly, our good ol' Dell bit the dust. Time for the bigger and the better!

My Guy At Six Months

It's so easy to make Ty laugh. Not only that, but he gets in giggly moods and anything you do or say makes him laugh hard. So hard that it sounds like it hurts. Here are two cute videos from a couple weeks ago that I've wanted to post. WARNING: Watching these videos will make you laugh too.





Here's a little more info on Ty:

- He enjoys sitting up and playing with toys. I love it too because he stays in one spot and can see all around.

- He still wakes up once a night to eat.

- He weighed 18 lbs. and measured 27 in. at his well check a few weeks ago. We are raising an athlete.

- He loves to tackle and be tackled. I can't believe it myself, but he laughs and screams with delight. Definitely a boy thing.

- He loves to watch and be entertained by Macie.

- His first tooth broke through on the bottom a couple days ago and the one right next to it is coming soon. Unfortunately he isn't a pleasant teether like his sister was.

- He strongly believes that everything in sight belongs in his mouth. He makes every effort to make sure it happens.

- He already seems so rough and tumble as such a young age that I fear for the time he will be mobile.

- He is the cutest little guy I have ever seen and I can't stop kissing his cheeks!

And Just Like That She's Already 3

I'm sad because my kids are big. Last week Macie turned 3 and Ty 6 months. I keep telling Macie to stop growing up so fast, but she tells me that she has to be big. Sometimes it seems like time has flown by, and others it seems like it's practically stopped. For example, it feels like forever ago that Ty was born. I had a really rough time adjusting to 2 kids and days felt endless for a while. However, I can look back at pictures as proof of how fast he is growing and it does make me sad. I love this time in my life where I get to stay home with my kids, they are completely dependent on me, and they want to be with me every second. On the other hand, we all have those days where all of those things make you insane and you find yourself wishing the clock would tick by a little faster. I try to remind myself to cherish the moments and make them memorable. When I'm laughing and hugging my little kids I never want them to get any older. In fact, when Macie hits the blessed teenage years I'm going to remind her how she used to tell me we were best friends all the time, and constantly begged me to go to the ball and dance with her.

Speaking of memorable, let's move on to Macie's birthday:

Every morning Macie comes into our room and climbs into bed to watch tv and drink her juice. Josh snapped this just after I told her it finally was her birthday.

She immediately asked about presents, just like we thought she would. We were ready.

She was so excited opening her card and legos. Then she said, "What else did you det me?"

Well, my mom happened to be in town for the weekend so Macie went to her room to find more presents. Let's just say she is one lucky girl. She now owns the Princess Aurora costume dress, crown, wand and shoes, exactly as requested.

Macie is very particular and loves birthday celebrations. I knew she had a vision in her head, so we collaborated for the party planning effort. I basically took her to a party store and followed her around while she picked out about 10 different themes that she loved and had to have. We ended up combining her favorite things: princesses, horsies, strawberry shortcake, and pink and purple. We invited our families over and Macie had a great time.

I was loving the party hats.

Bella was Macie's little shadow, helping her open all the presents.

I don't like cake very much, but my homemade strawberry shortcake is rather delicious I must say.

No party is complete without a pinata...

...and crying. Cousins Sadie and Vance (in the background) only lasted so long.

Best Conversation Yet

To decipher Macie's quotes, you need to know that most 'g' sounds are pronounced with a 'd' sound, and most 'c' or 'k' sounds are pronouced with a 't' sound.

Macie: When I drowed up I'm dunna be a Mom. You tan drow up and be the dirl.

Me: But when you are a mom I will be a grandma.

Macie: Oh. (pause) Then who's dunna be the dirl?

Me: When you are a mom you will have your own kids.

Macie: Where do I det my kids?

Me: Well, first you have to get married.

Macie: Otay, I will det married and then you tan be my dirl. I will tall you Ta-risha.

All Growed Up

I've spent some time lately going through Macie's old clothes and organizing them into bags by size. It really got me thinking about some things. First of all, I can't believe the amount of clothes she has. When you consider how fast kids grow, they are bound to go through clothes at an unbelievable rate.

Secondly, I think girl clothes are totally cute. It's so easy to find cute items to buy and Macie loves to wear them all. Not that I buy an excessive amount* of clothes, because I really don't, but every season I have to get new stuff because she grows so fast. In fact, I just ordered a bunch of clothes from The Children's Place online because she needs summer clothes. They were having a big sale, plus I had a coupon code for another 15% off, so I really couldn't resist loading up. Ty, on the other hand, only got a couple things. It just goes to show that buying girly clothes is way more fun than buying boy clothes. I just can't get excited over them like I do the pink stuff.

Finally, I actually got a kind of sad going through her old clothes because it reminds me how fast she's growing. Some outfits I swear she was just wearing yesterday and they're already put away. I can't believe it! Her clothes have sentimental value and I don't want to get rid of them. So I now have bags of clothes tucked away in a closet. For someone who hates clutter and hanging on to things, I can foresee this being a problem in the future. Oh well.

*Shoes are an entirely different story. I buy too many pairs and I can't help it. They are my weakness.

Mr. Clean, Mr. Clean

Ah, the smell of a clean house. I'm enjoying that right now. Keeping my house clean is one of my biggest sources of stress. I can't stand things being dirty. This is probably the biggest reason I hate public places. Dirty = Germs. Since my Ty guy came along 5 months ago, keeping the house clean has been even harder. It lead to even more stress. I was exhausted, Josh was busy and tired, and my house was on the edge of being dirty...dun, dun, dun. I know this sounds absurd to some people, but this one problem that needed to be remedied.

Growing up we always had a cleaning lady come to our home once a week. I didn't mind being the cleaning lady for my family for a while, but the task has simply overcome my capabilities right now. So, I currently enjoy 3700 sq. feet of absolute cleanliness at my own expense, and someone else's hard work. I highly recommend my cleaning people to anyone else who might be interested. They deep cleaned my home so well the first time, that now they just come to keep it up in shape. We're talking scrubbing baseboards, ceiling fans, pot shelves, windows and shutters, etc. All of the big things that I don't have the time to get to now are taken care of. Having a clean house it right up there at the top of my priority list, and is now one less stress for me. I can keep it picked up with a basic surface clean on my own, but now my deep cleaning is done and I can enjoy some moments of sanity. Hallelujah!

So Far This Year

There were several things I wanted to blog about but never had any time. Go figure, right? I decided to compile a list to catch up:

1. This one actually happened at the very end of last year, but that's ok. My youngest sister Miranda was sealed to our family on December 30th. It was such a wonderful, emotional experience for my family. Miranda's adoption process was a very long road, and finally after 14 years it was completed.

Miranda is the second on the left.

2. We spent most of January sick. Ear infections, bronchitis, RSV, sore throats, you name it. Between all 4 of us, someone had it. It was highly stressful.


3. Macie started dance classes. It is by far the cutest thing I've ever seen. I spent the first class observing through the window with a big smile on my face. Macie is in a class with 3-4 year olds, but as the youngest you would never know. She participates, listens to her instructor, and has an absolute ball! I could go on and on about all the cute things they do in class, but that is probably only exciting for me. Her recital is in June and I can't wait!

Macie and her friend, Harper. They are great friends and after dance they get to play together for a couple hours each week.

4. Macie bid a fond farewell to her pacifier. Some of you may be shocked that she actually still had one, but it's true. I convinced her to say bye and throw it away, and she actually did! We went to the store and I let her pick out a new toy. I was so worried we would have endless crying and tantrums because of the pacifier, but she was pretty good. She did ask about it several times for a good couple of weeks, but if we changed the subject she would only shed a few tears.

5. One of my college roommates came to town for a visit with her new husband. They got married 2 weeks after Ty was born so I wasn't able to go to the wedding. It was great to finally meet him. We had a fun weekend hanging out and reminiscing about the good old days at BYU. When you live with the same girls for 4 years there are lots of great memories. We missed Laurel W. who lives in NYC though.

Laurel, Me, Lindsay

Macie had a great time with her new buddies and all the attention they gave her.

6. My little Ty is growing so fast. I started giving him some brown rice cereal and he loves it. The picture below is from his first taste. At 5 months old I can already see such a huge difference between boys and girls. Ty is super strong and can already sit up on his own for a little while before toppling over. He is very smiley and I can't get enough of his laughter. He loves Macie so much. She can make him smile and laugh faster than anybody. He even thinks it's funny when she's mauling him...definitely a boy thing. I'm sure he will be giving me a run for my money when he becomes mobile.

7. Since Macie is old enough to understand holidays now, I think it's fun to do something festive to get excited about it. For Valentine's Day my sister Mel came over with Sadie Roses to make strawberry cupcakes. They were delicious!

The girls decorated a letter for my brother Ben who is doing ARMY officer training in Alabama. We missed cousin Bella so Macie mailed her a valentine too.

We got Macie a princess card and heart cupcake for Valentine's Day. She was very excited the whole day. Josh and I went out to dinner that night at the JW Marriott and had a nice time. I love my 3 valentines!

8. One last thing to add: I've gone back to my old friend bleach, as you can see in the picture above. It's been a while, but I really like it and prefer it over darker color. As an added bonus my life is like way more fun now, like totally.

Watch Out American Idol

Macie loves to sing primary songs. "Book of Mormon Stories" is one of my personal favorites to watch her perform. She always starts by telling me to get my book out...it's so cute.