Here Comes the Easter Bunny!

Annabelle had her 1st Easter this year so naturally the Easter Bunny was notified ;)

It was so fun watching her with her basket! The only way she'd sit up next to it was if she was holding onto the side of it - so cute. This year's basket was bunny themed (how clever of you, Easter Bunny): A bunny stuffed animal, Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny books, (+ a swimming suit... (not so bunny-themed)) But sweet nonetheless, right?

Cousins Emma, Kaylee, and Maxy had a little Easter egg hunt, and Annabelle found TWO eggs! Such a smarty ;)




On top of celebrating Easter, we got to celebrate Nana's birthday!


Happy Easter everyone! Hope yours was as fun as ours :)

Happy Easter!

This year we got to spend Easter in Junction with Jake's family. It was such a special Sunday, not only because sweet baby Isaac was blessed, my three sister-in-laws and I got to teach Relief Society, but also because we got to celebrate the resurrection of our Savior.
It was a beautiful rainy day in Colorado, and as the earth was washed clean it helped me remember how we too can be washed clean through the perfect sacrifice of our Savior.

I'm so grateful for my blessings!
It was a perfect 1st Easter with our Annabelle.





She makes us so happy.

Annabelle Eats Rice Cereal

Part I:



Part II:


It's a love/hate relationship.

Toes

Annabelle discovered her toes this past week, and she plays with them all the time now! I think it's so adorable.




This last one is my favorite: She was talking to daddy, and then quickly glanced over at me as I snapped the picture. She sure knows how to melt my heart :)

Good Mood Music

This is my new all-time favorite song. I found it at my friend's blog here: sunshinepromises.blogspot.com.
This song just makes me smile and the girl is so cute and talented. I love love love it.

Hope you enjoy!

PS: Thank you Lauren for showing me how to post videos :) You're my blog-guru.

Annabelle Rolls Over! 4 1/2 months old.

My baby can roll over and it just makes me so proud! (The small things that are so exciting to me now...)
And sometimes when she rolls over she gets up onto her knees. Could I have a crawler soon? Oh, I love this baby girl. She's growing up so fast.

PS: Last night was the first night she slept in her crib. All.Night.Long. We're hittin' milestones here.

Grandpa Dave turns 30!!

We headed to Grand Junction late Thursday night to surprise Grandpa Dave for his big three-oh. ;););)

Ashley, Josh, Kaylee, and Isaac came too so it was like a mini-reunion. (We were just missing Tiffany & co - looking forward to Easter though) :D

It was fun to have the baby cousins together, and I got lots of cute pictures of the long weekend.

The girls' first road trip together:

It's hard travelling with 2 babes under 4 months, but they did pretty awesome! One would cry, which would lull the other to sleep, and vice versa. They're so cute together!

The boys helped thier dad pour cement on his birthday, and here they are discussing their next move, GQ-style:



Annabelle getting her one-on-one time:
They're such sweet grandparents.

Jake and Danny got some good one-on-one time too ;)


Maddy gettin' some love:



Our Sunday evening walk:


Daddy-Daughter date:


Annabelle learned how to play with her toys on this trip:


Playing with baby Isaac:



Dave's birthday dinner at Rooster's:


And headed home:



Fun trip! Can't wait for Easter :)

Super Moms!

Ashley Thay and I hiked the Y a couple weekends ago. Oh, and with our babies strapped to our chests. We hiked the Y with 10+ lbs babies strapped to us. HELLO!! --> By far the hardest thing I've ever done: Harder than giving birth, harder than getting an epidural, and definitely harder than getting an IV (which was the worst part of being in labor). Also harder than recovering from birth, but to get an even better picture it goes hand-in-hand with getting 38 stitches.



=pretty dang hard! However very very rewarding!

Every person we passed on the way up would tell us how awesome we were, and how much they admired us, and how they can't believe we're doing this, and how they hoped to be able to do this when they have kids. A little Asian Army man even said: Way to go! You're almost there! ... very sweet, however very untrue. Hearing those words gave me butterflies: HALELUJA! Almost there. Unfortunately we were still AN HOUR OUT!!!

See, that's my perspective on this hike. Ashley, on the other hand, is back to her pre-birth weight (6 short weeks later) and so in shape! She could've hiked the Y twice with both babies strapped to her before breaking a sweat. She's amazing.
And so sweet to let me take a break every 5 steps.



We did it! We hiked the Y, and I am very proud about it too. It was my 1st time, and I'm so glad I could do it with those girls.
(We even hiked to the very tippy-top of the Y!) Woot woot.

Lake Oswego

For Spring Break this year we went and visited our favorite Uncle Jon, Aunt Jen, & co. and it is definitely in our top favorite vacations now! We had such a fun time, (and I got to pick up a lot of new yummy recipes. Jen is incredible! I'll be sure to post some recipes soon.)
It was Annabelle's 2nd time on a plane, and she did great! I always get nervous that she'll scream the whole way, or have a major blowout and I'll have to change her in my lap, but luckily she slept both ways! My little angel baby.

Jon and Jen have 4 adorable kids: Olivia, Molly, Max, and Ian. It was so fun spending the week with them -- I don't think Annabelle's ever gotten so much attention. Thanks for being such loving cousins :)


Top 10 highlights of our trip:
1. Going to H&M!!!! (Heaven on EARTH!)
2. Getting Voodoo Doughnuts. Yum!
3. Eating delicious Mexican food at: Porque No! (Meeting our sweet cousin Abbey!)
4. Strolling through downtown Lake Oswego -- Loved its european feel.
5. Sharing a "chocolate bag" at Jake's.
6. Perusing the Nike Outlet = cute new workout clothes.
7. Admiring Jen's gorgeous house -- I love love loved it.
8. Eating some of the best food I've ever had! (Jen, yes! You're that good.)
9. Learning to love doing laundry ;)
10. Best part of all: Getting to know their sweet family!!

Jake's downtown Portland:

Sweet Abbey holding exhausted Annabelle - she had hit a wall.

Eating @ Porque No!


Yummy Voodoo Doughnuts:



Cute kids:





We loved spending spring break with you -- thanks for being so wonderful. We had such a relaxing week!


We love your family, and can't wait to come back for another visit! (Christmas anyone?!) ... :)

16 Things

Four months = 16 weeks, and listing 16 Things I love about A is way better than just listing four.

1. I love the way she'll look up and smile at me when she's eating. Not because she's done, but because she just wanted to make sure I was still there.
2. I love the way she crosses her legs when she's just relaxing. Such a lady.
3. I love it when she watches the Baby channel and I hear her giggle from the other room - talking sheep are pretty funny.
4. I love when I can get her to smile during those short sporadic seconds when she opens her "sleeping" eyes. I like to think she was dreaming of me :)
5. I love how she rests her hand on my chest while she eats. It's such a sweet way to show me she loves me.
6. I love how she'll get real quiet when we're saying her prayers at night.
7. I love how happy she is when she wakes up!
8. I love love love it when she giggles in her sleep - makes me think she's chatting with Jesus, and better yet: that He's making her laugh.
9. I love that she's learning how to take turns while conversing: She says something and then stops talking so that I can say something, after which she goes on to tell me something else (etc).
10. I love her big beautiful blue eyes.
11. I love those juicy kissable lips.
12. I especially love her "blowed up" cheeks.
13. I love how sweet she is -- she truly is such a good baby.
14. I love it when she nestles her face into my shoulder cause she's still sleepy.
15. I love how she'll just smile at you for no reason at all.
16. But what I love most of all is how her eyes will follow me anywhere, no matter what!



I love you so much, Annabelle! Thanks for loving me too.

Koala Bear Baby

I love Koala Bears! They're cute, cuddly, and just sweet little animals.
And guess what? My love of koalas has turned my baby into one. I have a Koala Bear Baby!!


When the seasons change and the weather warms up they can shed some of their fur to stay cool.

Annabelle has lost all her fur!! And all this time it's because she's been trying to cool herself off.

Koalas grow to be about 2 feet tall and can weigh from 10 to 30 pounds.

Well she's 15 lbs now, and just about 2 feet tall. Sounds like a Koala Bear to me.

They have white chins and white chests.

Could it get any clearer? Annabelle IS in fact a Koala Bear. She's got the whitest chin and chest around.

They are calm and harmless, their only weapon against the aggressor are their sharp claws.

She is calm. And (mostly) harmless. Sharp claws? Yes. My chest is covered in scratches! (Guess that makes me the aggressor...)

Koalas are good climbers:



I have a Koala Bear Baby :) How'd I get so lucky?