Seattle, I love you!

Pretty much every time Jake goes out of town, I wish one of my sisters could be shipped to me. Or I daydream about visiting them. And this time when Jake left for Kiev, I was especially achey for some sister time. And lucky for Marie, her place is the only realistic option. So the day before Jake left, I started brainstorming. Who could make the roadtrip with me so last minute?

When Marie suggested Tiff&Treena I was sold. They were the PERFECT roadtrip buddies: They're giggly, chatty, and adorable. I practically wanted to hire them to come with me. And I probably should have, cause for that week we spent together each of my children had their own personal nanny.

 It. Was. Bomb. (Thank you, Tiff&Treena!!)

We started our long trek on a Thursday afternoon and as soon as we were all in the car together, we wanted to bust open all our snacks. ROADTRIP!

When our hair got greasy. And our makeup smeared from exhaustion. And we ate a 10 lbs bag of peanut butter m&m's. And Annabelle spilled milkshake all.over.herself. And peed on the side of the road every ten minutes. And we still had 3 hours to go and felt so close, but then realized we still have  t h r e e hours to go. We just yelled out R O A D T R I P and that made it all better.

We stayed the night in Oregon on the way there (take note: that is a smart move ye Washington-bound road-trippers!) and got to Marie's Friday afternoon. And from then on life was bliss. Annabelle was in cousin heaven. Henry was maybe put down once the entire 5 days we were there. And we stayed up late and laughed. A lot. 

We went shopping, took the ferry into Seattle, ate yummy food and treats, jumped on the trampoline (I need one!!), went to the most beautiful beach, and just enjoyed being together. It was one of my favorite trips. I had to remind myself extra hard this time to bring my camera when we went out and about. Whenever I'm with Lu or Marie, I just let them take all the pictures and then I go home with none. I learned my lesson this trip ;) But only partially, cause I only have pictures from our day in Seattle and at the beach (which I'll save for another post).

I noticed that Liam is in 90% of all my pictures, and am therefore dubbing him most cooperative kid to take pictures of. He is such a little sweetheart! He let Annabelle love on him whenever she wanted to. And he adored little Henry and spent a good 30 minute of our ferry ride holding and kissing him. While we were in the car on our way to the ferry he rode in my car and sat in the same row as Henry. A couple minutes into our drive he perked up and said:"I'm pretty lucky, cause I get to sit right next to Henry!" Gasp. Can I keep you, little Liam?

We had lunch on the ferry, and the little toddlers ran free. (I'm certain we were a fun circus of crazies to watch.) Once we docked, we walked to Pike's Place and let the kids choose a pastry from the cutest bakery. Annabelle got a jumbo cinnamon roll, and ate the w h o l e thing. Henry slept most of the day, and we hiked up two San Francisco-like hills to get to some shopping, just to realize it was all for nothing.  Again, we probably looked pret-ty awesome pushing two double strollers full of a million children up a mountain. 

Workout: Check!

We found a playground in the middle of the city, bought some yummy hotdogs from a street vendor, and just sat for two hours while the kids played. It was just what we needed. :)

On our way back to the ferry we stopped at Ivar's and got fries to feed the seagulls. I now feel like a true seasoned Seattle-goer. Bring it on.

The girls each took turns getting their arms, face, and legs tickled by Aunt Tiffy on the way home. They both practically fell asleep in her arms and I'm fairly certain our day in Seattle would have been a throbbing headache, had we not had Tiff&Treena. (T h a n k  y o u!!)

It was a beautiful day.

I love Marie, and I love her babies. 

And I loved every second of being in Seattle.

These People

We've finally been reunited as a family, and today we went ahead and celebrated that to the max.

Everything is always more fun when daddy's around.

And 100x easier. Single parenting when he's out of town is definitely an art that I have not mastered yet. However, I am open to any tips!

These days Henry is pretty much all smiles. You just look at him and he lights up. And he has this double chin that is just so adorable. 

He.is.all.chub! 

And I love his sweet and easy-going personality. Please stay 4 months old forever!!

 Annabelle, on the other hand, is about 50/50. Haha. With only being two years old her ups and downs are pretty drastic. One minute she's pouting about not getting to play with two plastic forks, and the next her face is glowing with the sweetest grin as she's just handed me a dandelion. Ahh. Those are the moments I bask in :)

I'm in love with her. She is definitely cray-cray, but wrapped around my heart 50 times.

And I'm so happy I caught that grin of hers on camera as she handed me her flower. I have a major soft spot for that girl.

It was a really last minute decision to grab my camera as we headed out the door today, and I think it was a good one :)

Spending my days with these people is my favorite!

Four Months

There have been a lot of changes since hitting your 4 month mark. You can recognize me from clear across the room now, and every time you do, your chubby cheeks form a huge grin and your eyes get all Asian. It is adorable!

You watch your sister Annabelle like a hawk, you adore her so. 

I really look forward to when you two can run around together :) I hope you two grow to be best friends!

She is your mini-mommy too. Most days she rushes to your aid before I can even get up. She knows you like your binki, and your teething giraffe. And she will huddle around you every few minutes, just to tell you how cute you are. I think she adores you, too ;)

Speaking of teething, you have two teeth!! And my heart aches a little every time I think about it. I want you to stay my baby forever, and teeth just make you seem so much more grown up! They popped through this week, and I cried. Haha. I know it sounds silly, but teeth already? I'm slowly getting used to it...

You like to hold my fingers when I rest my hand on your chest. And your floppy ears make me all sorts of crazy for you.

I am so deeply in love with you! You are just such a sweet sweet boy. And you have this really sweet high pitched coo when you're telling us stories. And sometimes your chit chat sounds a little more like you're yelling. You usually use the latter form of communication when you want my attention. And it works :)

Your lips have always been so adorable to me. That upper lip of yours was the first thing I noticed when you were born, and it's one of my favorite features of yours. Sometimes you smile so big, your whole body goes into a little spasm. It's like you just cannot contain your happiness, and I adore that about you.

I keep telling myself you'll stay a baby forever and time will slow down. It's gonna be a real shocker next month when you're rolling over or something. I have a feeling time won't slow down, but I so wish I had a pause button. You are so much fun right now, and just so sweet. I can tell you adore all of us, and we definitely reciprocate the feeling. You have made this family complete, and we are so happy to call you ours!

Three Months

I can't believe I missed his 3 month post.
And now he's 4 months and 2 days. What?!
Before I know it he's gonna turn one, and I want to start crying right now. Time with this second baby is on fast forward or something, cause I feel like I just had him! And now he smiles, and coos, and is just so loveable. 
He is mesmerized by Annabelle. I told her to go entertain him the other day, and I look over and she's given him her feet to play with. And he was beyond happy. He. Adores. Her.
He's such a mellow little guy, too. He's super content to just lay on the floor and watch us girls go about our day. He's happy as can be, if he can watch me make dinner in the kitchen.
And he's a big boy. At 3 months, he's 15 lbs!
I've never been so in love with chunky baby thighs.
And this boy's thighs are to die for!
He hasn't quite figured out how to laugh yet, but he sure does try. His back and feet are ticklish, and he just grunts with a big smile on his face when we tickle him. 
These past 3 months have been such a blessing.
And he makes me want 10 more boys just like him.

Easter Sunday

This year's Easter celebration was my favorite. I think the more kids I have and as they get older, the more special the holidays will become. And this year's was definitely special!

During Sacrament meeting a sweet mother bore her testimony of how grateful she was for the Atonement, and every word she spoke felt like it was coming straight from my heart.

Because of the Atonement, my sweet babies will be resurrected. And because of the Atonement my sweet babies can live forever with God. This Easter holiday really put into perspective just how important it is that I raise my family in righteousness so we can be together forever. And there is absolutely nothing in this world that I want more, than to be with my family forever.

As soon as we got home from church, the search was on! Annabelle pretty much looked all over the house for her Easter basket, and in the meantime kept walking right past it. She eventually stumbled upon Henry's and was so thrilled to show him everything he got. She's like his mini-mommy, and he l-o-v-e-s it! (He has a major crush on her!) 

With a little help from daddy she finally found hers, and was just beside herself! Watching her face light up was all I needed for the rest of the day. I am loving the age she is at!

These kids make my life so beautiful! And though it's hard at times, I wouldn't change being their mom for anything. I want to kiss them all day long. I just adore them!

Later that afternoon we had a huge Easter egg hunt with all the Van Wagoner cousins. And when I say huge, I mean massive. She got more candy on Easter, than she did on Halloween. Hello!!

Annabelle couldn't wait to bust through that gate and gather up all the eggs she could find. As soon as she found one, she'd sit down, open it up, and eat everything inside. She soon learned she needed to be quicker than that, if she wanted to find more than one egg though :) 

And she definitely found more than one egg. 
No complaints here -- chocolate is a best friend in our home :)

We enjoyed a beautiful Easter this year.

And having these sweet babies made it all the more special!