Jar and Steph

Crazy Christmas

2012-02-01T17:06:00.000-08:00

I love Christmas but every year it gets busier and busier. I think I finished up my shopping and wrapping on Christmas Eve. I cooked quite a bit Christmas Eve but forgot to take most of it to the parties we went to, so we ended up with a lot of cookies and candy for Santa. Christmas Eve we went to my grandparents house first for the White Elephant party over there and then from there we rushed to grandpa Allen's for the Christmas Eve party over there. When we got back the kids were exhausted but it has become tradition that Christmas Eve they get to open one present, their jammies so we made time for that. Here they are in new jammies from Papa and Nani Liljenquist.

Christmas morning they got right up and went straight to the stockings.

Kenzie had a harder time waking up than the other two.

Laela opening her first of too many presents.

Once Kenzie saw they wagon and her new purple baby she woke right up.

Mason was so excited about this GIANT bucket of Play Dough.

This is my favorite picture of Christmas, she loves her wagon and her baby!

Laela was sooo excited about her first real camera.

Mason had a truck like this last year and when it broke he was so sad, so he was pretty happy to get a new one that worked.

The kids had such a fun Christmas!

Had to add this one of all the cute girl cousins at Nana's house in the on Christmas in their new matching jammies.

She really did like Christmas.

Santa

2011-12-20T07:06:00.000-08:00

Laela asked for a new bike, Mason asked for a truck and play dough and Makenzie cried her eyes out when she saw Santa.

Gingerbread House Construction and DESTRUCTION!

2011-12-14T15:09:00.000-08:00

Laela thought it would be so fun to decorate a gingerbread house for family home evening, so we bought a house and everybody helped decorate.

Laela and Mason frosting the roof with snow.

Laela and Kenzie added gum drops while JR built a Christmas tree and put lights on the the house.

Mason helped for a minute and then ran off with some candy. We finished the house and it looked so cute.

Makenzie admiring the house. Notice the beautiful gold belt Makenzie is wearing as a necklace.

It looked so cute until we walked out and left Mason in the room with the house. I walked in a few minutes later and this is what I found. That little devil! I thought Laela would be upset but she laughed and said "LETS EAT IT!"

Dress Up

2011-12-13T12:50:00.000-08:00

This little girl is ALL GIRL! Any time she finds hats, shoes, socks, jewelry or anything she can put on she does.

Here she is with one of Laelas hats.

When it's time to put socks and shoes on she will grab her "whoes" and shove them in your face until they are on her feet. She makes me laugh!

SNOW!

2011-12-12T12:41:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago it rained, YAY, so JR was able to take a couple days off from the farm and we made a quick trip to Mesa. As we were driving through the mountains there was snow all over and the kids were in heaven! Laela told us we had to stop so she could play in the snow.

We only stopped for a few minutes but the kids loved it and they piled snow on the back of the car to save for later.

Presents

2011-12-06T13:04:00.000-08:00

Today I caught Mason and Makenzie playing in a pile of tissue paper that Mason had found and opened. It was about five packages of Christmas tissue and when I walked up to Mason I said "UH OH what did you get into" Mason looked up at me with some crumpled tissue in his hand and said "We are wrapping presents for Jesus." How could I ever get mad at that.

One Big Birthday!

2011-12-01T09:02:00.000-08:00

My sweet baby turned one this past Sunday. I can't believe how fast this year went by!

Makenzie is such a sweet baby!

She does the funniest things like growling when she eats and whispering when she is curious about something.
She loves to play with Laela and Mason.
She started taking steps at eleven months and she's getting to where she is walking as much as she's crawling. Every time she walks she gets so excited and claps for herself.
She loves her binky, even more than her bottle.
She says Mama, Dada, hi, hat, baby and doggy.
Every morning at about six she wakes up and when I bring her into our room she jumps on us and says "HI" trying to wake us up, it is so cute!
She is right at twenty pounds and she loves food.
She is already starting to get into everything like the trash cans, unrolling toilet paper, putting things in the potty and A LOT of other things.
Everywhere I go people stop me and tell me how pretty her eyes are.
She loves babies and when you give her a dolly she hugs it so tight.
She loves to put things on like hats, shoes and jewelry, she is all girl.

We love our little Kenzie pie so, so much.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY sweet baby!

The Cotton

2011-11-28T06:56:00.000-08:00

I didn't make it out with my camera in time to get pictures of JR picking but we did have a photographer come out and get a few pictures of the kids in the cotton. I think they turned out really cute!

Carmel Apple

2011-11-04T06:37:00.000-07:00

In Makenzie's Halloween bucket from the neighbors there was a Carmel apple packaged tightly in plastic. I let her play with it because I was certain she would not be able to get that apple out of the plastic.

Well guess what, I was wrong.

I put Mason in the bath and when I came to get to the little devil I found her covered in sticky Carmel.

I did let her eat a little bit of the apple but wow was she mad when I took it away!

HUH?

2011-11-03T14:05:00.000-07:00

The other day I drove the kids through Sonic and Laela asked for some popcorn chicken so we got some and headed home. On the way home I kept hearing loud CRUNCHES! I looked back at Laela and she said "Mommy this chicken is like eating a hard doll head!" I don't know what that means but it sure was funny!

Halloween

2011-11-02T13:01:00.000-07:00

It is so fun dressing these kids up and I think they look so cute! Laela didn't know what she wanted to be until she saw Kenzie's cute tutu and then she decided she wanted to be a tutu devil too. So I made the girls red tutu's and when I told Mason he should be a bum he ran around saying "I wanna be a bum!" JR asked me "should we worry that he wants to be a bum?"

So Saturday JR got home early enough and was able to go to trunk or treat with the kids and I, I was so excited because this is the first year since we have met that he was able to go trick or treating with us. The kids had fun and got lot's of candy and hot dogs. Monday night, Halloween, I took the kids real trick or treating. Laela and Mason LOVED it. The first house we went to they ran up and Mason rang the door bell seven times, I told him to only ring once but I ended up having to apologize at almost every house for him ringing the doorbell so many times.

We went to quite a few houses and the candy jar is overflowing!

So here are tons of pictures!

This picture makes me laugh, this is so Laela!

The little devils!

The cuteness.

I think he may be a bum every year, he plays the part so well.

Our wonderful neighbors Jean and John brought each of the kids their own Halloween bucket full of candy and movies! They are so sweet and we love them so much!

Everyone said I should have made her an angel instead of a devil but this mommy knows what she's doing, that is definitely a little devil.

Kenzie got a hold of the candy jar and wouldn't let go for nothing!

Every year Halloween gets crazier but it's getting to be more fun too. I love these kids!!

"Kenzie did it"

2011-11-01T12:56:00.000-07:00

A lot of things have come up missing lately, I think she's learned how to flush.

That's the trash can if you can't tell.

Halloween Things

2011-10-31T11:33:00.000-07:00

Wow Halloween gets busier and crazier every year, must be the kids. Laela wanted to make treats for her Halloween party at school so we made Dum Dum spiders.

They took a long time but she was very proud of them and said her friends loved them.

Aunt Trish sent the kids each a Halloween bag full of super fun things!

They had so much fun playing with everything! Thanks Aunt Trish, you are GREAT!

I also took the kids trick or treating at Bashas. It's kind of silly but it has become a tradition that we go trick or treating around the store and then decorate a cake. The cake gets more colorful each year.

Carving Pumpkins

2011-10-30T11:13:00.000-07:00

The kids couldn't wait to carve pumpkins! We were wishing JR would have grown a great pumpkin patch again this year but he was way too busy so we went and bought some pumpkins. Laela and JR worked on a scary pumpkin and I asked Mason what kind of pumpkin he wanted to make and he said "a nice one."

So Mason and I worked on making a nice pumpkin until I knocked out one of his teeth and he ended up looking retarded.

The kids would not touch the "yucky stuff" inside the pumpkin and when I reached in and grabbed a hand full they thought it was so gross.

I couldn't get this little girl to stop eating the pumpkin but I'm not surprised because she puts EVERYTHING in her mouth right now.

The kids had fun and the pumpkins turned out cute!

Sleepover!

2011-10-29T10:55:00.000-07:00

Laela was super excited when she found out her cousin Elly was going to spend the night last weekend. This was the first time she got to have a friend spend the night. These two had so much fun!

They made bracelets, pictures, letters and stayed up playing in the craft box until eleven o'clock.

I finally convinced them they should lay down and watch a movie at like midnight.

I wanted to get a picture of it and didn't but when I woke up and checked on them they had popcorn, cookies and candy all over them and they were completely out! I have never seen kids so tired.

I think this was definitely one of Laela's favorite weekends ever!

My Buddy

2011-10-21T08:57:00.000-07:00

I really, really love this kid and it's a good thing because he's a lot of work!

He keeps me busy cleaning up his messes and fixing things he breaks but he is really sweet and a pretty funny little boy.

Things to remember about Mason at three:

The wind blowing when we were outside and him holding his hair saying "It's messing my hair up."
Watching a movie in the car and Mason asking for his "Microscopes" (headphones).
Loves his blankie.
Woody and Buzz, favorite toys in the WHOLE WORLD!
Watching Toy Story about five times EVERY day.
Super sweet! Always says "I love you Mommy" before he goes to bed.
Impossible to potty train!
LOVES to ride his gator with Woody and Buzz, of course.
Getting in the car and Mason saying "I didn't look in the mirror." Yes I know this is my fault that my son has to look in the mirror before he leaves the house.
Waffles, brownies and chocolate milk, all Mason needs to survive.
Playing with Kenzie and saying "I wuv her" and then two minutes later yelling "GET THAT BABY OUTTA HERE!"
Asks three hundred questions a day.
The cute freckles on his nose, I hope they never fade away.

Pumpkins & Little Devils!

2011-10-02T12:00:00.000-07:00

We are so excited that Fall is finally here!! The kids couldn't wait to go get pumpkins. Makenzie LOVES her little pumpkin so much that when I took it away to pay for it she cried.

And here are my little devils doing naughty things!

While I cleaned the kitchen Mason snuck a bag of Gold Fish into his room and had a party with Makenzie.

Mason sure knows how to throw a party.

Oh and I can't forget last week when Mason found my coupons.

I'm pretty sure these two should be little devils for Halloween!

Mason Is Three!

2011-09-15T13:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my most favorite little boy in the whole world turned three. He had a fun little family birthday at home.

Mason saw this dinosaur cake online and has been asking me to make it for weeks, so we made it together and I think it turned out cute.

Mason and his cake.

So happy about presents!

Mason LOVES Toy Story, he has just about every toy from the movie and he was so happy about getting another Toy Story movie.

He had these candles blown out before we were done singing, he was very ready to eat this cake.

He got lots of new trucks, movies, clothes, candy and two trips to McDonalds.

His Dee Dee took him to McDonalds for lunch and then shopping and he picked out a car and candy.

This is one happy little three year old!

My Beautiful Mess

2011-09-10T10:23:00.000-07:00

Makenzie had a chocolate doughnut for breakfast today and as you can see she enjoyed every single bite.

Because I'm a bad mama and haven't kept a baby book for Makenzie I should write down that she is nine month's and crawling all over the place. She pulls herself up onto things and is starting to take steps around the furniture while holding on. She is getting into EVERYTHING!! She loves to play in the cupboards and the trash cans and she loves playing with Laela and Mason. Her third little tooth is about to pop through on the bottom. She also loves having her picture taken, as soon as she sees the camera she smiles. She is the cutest little girl ever!

Labor Day

2011-09-06T12:06:00.000-07:00

With JR still busy on the farm we didn't do much for Labor Day but it sure was nice that Laela had the day off from school. We slept in, ate breakfast, watched cartoons and didn't get dressed until noon and sometimes these days are the best!

Tears And A Tooth!

2011-09-01T18:21:00.000-07:00

Laela lost her first tooth today and she cried A LOT!!

Her tooth had been loose for awhile and her new tooth had already grown in behind it so we were trying really hard to get her to pull it out. So when I picked the girls up from gymnastics Elly told me her tooth fell out and I told Laela it would be so neat if they both lost a tooth on the same day. When we got home I went in for a minute and when I went back outside JR was holding Laela pulling her tooth out with pliers. I guess she did have a pretty good reason to cry but it needed to come out so the new one would straighten up. It came out fast and as soon as it did she was happy.

So here she is, still mad at her Daddy, with one less tooth. The one right beside it is loose too but I need a week to recover from the first one.

She cheered right up when her Daddy took her to Walmart and bought her a messenger bag she has been asking for and when she found gold under her pillow the next morning.

Naughty Mason

2011-09-01T10:03:00.000-07:00

Sunday afternoon Mason decided it would be so fun to dump Makenzie's rice cereal all over the kitchen floor and dance in it. I didn't think it was a very good idea.

Makenzie joining in on the fun.

Makenzie and Mason are a lot alike, they both think doing naughty things is fun. Makenzie has already learned how to hit, I'm pretty sure Mason taught her this. I wouldn't be so worried about it but when she hits people she laughs.

I just came across this picture that I had taken about a year ago. Mason found nail polish and makeup that was left outside and painted his face, arms and clothes.

I hope I make it through this kid.

Laela's First Day of Scool

2011-08-21T12:46:00.000-07:00

My little Laela started Kindergarten on August ninth!! I still can't believe it. It seems like it was just yesterday that I brought my tiny baby girl home from the hospital and now she's off to school. The first day was pretty tough for me. I am not good at all of this emotional stuff.

We got up early and Laela had her new clothes, back pack and lunch box all out and ready to go. She did pretty good getting up and getting ready. My wonderful Grandma Dee Dee came over to watch Mason and Makenzie so I could take Laela. We drove to school and when we got there I looked back at her and started to cry. She got tears in her eyes and I told her she would love school and it was going to be so much fun. We talked and laughed for a minute and then she gave me the best hug ever, it was really sweet. We walked to class, went in and I got one last hug. As soon as she sat down I hurried out the door before she saw me cry again. She did good her first day but she was pretty tired when she got home. It is going to take us awhile to get used to this new schedule but we will and I think eventually Laela is really going to like school.

Here she is ready to go to her first day of Kindergarten.

I couldn't get her to look at the camera but I got one last picture of her in her class on the first day.

Mt. Graham

2011-08-16T12:12:00.000-07:00

Dee Dee called and asked if the kids and I wanted to go to the mountain for the day, Laela was school shopping in Phoenix with her Nana so I thought it would be good to go and spend some time with Mason. Mason was so excited about going, he loves to be outside. He ran,explored and played in the dirt the whole time.

Makenzie's first trip to Mt. Graham

I took Mason on a walk and we looked at bugs and rocks and he picked every flower he saw to give to Dee Dee.

Flowers for Dee Dee

Mason and Papa

Little Kenzie had fun eating dirt and rocks and other yucky things she found on the ground.

I promised Dee Dee I wouldn't put this picture on here but I lied. I love this picture. These kids are so lucky to have such wonderful grandparents, they really are the BEST!

Sleepy

2011-08-03T17:55:00.000-07:00

Couldn't finish her Cheerios

Kenzie is Eight Months

2011-07-28T13:55:00.000-07:00

This cute little girl is growing. All she does is eat, eat, eat! This picture was the day she ate her first cracker and she loved it. Then she had a chocolate chip cookie and loved that too. She is pretty much eating everything cookies, Cheerios, ice cream and a lot of yucky things she finds on the floor. The other day I found her in the laundry room chewing on a rock that must have fallen off J.R.'s boot. She was so mad at me when I took it out of her mouth. Last week, July twenty third, she clapped her hands for the very first time! It was the cutest. She was so proud of herself and kept clapping until she just about tipped over.

She isn't crawling but she is getting everywhere by scooting and her poor little knees are always red. On July twenty fifth she pulled herself up to standing and stood up holding on to the Love Sac for about a minute. Maybe she will skip crawling completely and just start walking one day. She is sweetest baby!!

Mason begged me to put his picture on here too with yogurt all over his face.

It's RAIN!!

2011-07-26T12:05:00.000-07:00

This picture makes me laugh. It looks like they have never seen rain before.

It NEVER rains here and as soon as the rain started Laela and Mason took off out the door. They stood in this spot for about ten minutes without talking or moving.

I don't think they knew what to do in this rain stuff but they sure were happy!

Pioneer Day

2011-07-24T11:54:00.000-07:00

Pioneer day is always lots of fun! The kids were so excited for the parade and fireworks.

Laela waiting for the parade

The kids wouldn't eat the barbecue but they loved the watermelon

Kenzie wishing she had watermelon and soda pop

Anytime Makenzie saw a soda she would take off after it, you can see she's just about to get cousin B's soda.

Laela and Dee Dee

"Buzz and Boody"

2011-07-14T11:05:00.000-07:00

"Mommy I love Buzz and Boody!"

Buddies

2011-07-13T10:36:00.000-07:00

It has taken Mason awhile to warm up to Makenzie. When she was born he would hardly even look at her. At about four months I could get him to say hi to her and then he would run away. Then I noticed that when no one was around he would secretly play with her but as soon as he saw me watching he would run off. Finally at seven months Mason has decided that Makenzie is really cute and really fun to play with. Now they love each other! I am so happy about this. With Laela starting school in August I was worried that Mason would get lonely but I think Makenzie will keep him company.

Summertime

2011-07-08T13:30:00.000-07:00

Summer is great for playing at Dee Dee and Papa's house

Eating lunch outside

And the best part of summer is playing in the rain!

Chocolate BABY!

2011-07-07T15:37:00.000-07:00

Today Makenzie discovered chocolate. I walked out of the room for a minute and when I came back she was eating, I mean ate, a Tootsie Roll.

Don't you think her face says "mmmmm!"

It was all over her and the carpet and it was the cutest thing I ever saw.

Oh and her other big news of the day, she sat up all by herself for the first time today. She is growing up fast!

Fourth Of July

2011-07-06T12:57:00.000-07:00

The kids at the Parade. Don't they look excited.

Makenzie was super happy to be at the parade.

"No more pictures Mommy!"

Laela waiting for the candy to be thrown.

I love the Fourth of July but the kids didn't seem to into it, they didn't even care about the fireworks. Maybe next year when they are older they will enjoy it.

Tee Ball

2011-07-04T13:48:00.000-07:00

This was Laela's first year of Tee Ball and she had a lot of fun. I was a bad mom and hardly took any pictures of her. I will do better next year. Here she is all dressed up and with her team, the Giants.

When I asked Laela what her favorite part of Tee ball was she said her friends and the pink helmet. Here she is on first base in the pink helmet.

Here she is ready to go to her last game and excited to have cousin Elly come watch.

Laela did really well hitting the ball and running around the bases but I noticed that she would never run after the ball when it came her way. I asked her why she wouldn't go after the ball and she said "I'm not gonna try to get the ball if everyone else is gonna try to get it too." Made me laugh I guess that's pretty smart just to let everyone else do all the work. It was fun to watch her play, make new friends and learn something new.

Six Months

2011-06-24T15:51:00.000-07:00

Our little Kenzie is half way to one already! At her last doctors appointment she weighed 16 pounds 5 ounces and measured 25 inches long. She is still the sweetest baby but she does have a little temper when she doesn't get what she wants which is usually me, her mama! She is eating a lot of different foods and so far she likes pears the best. She also loves brownies and ice cream and all things sweet. Her first little tooth popped up on the bottom and she is chewing and drooling on everything. She babbles dada, lala, baba and I'm pretty sure she has figured out that when she says baba she gets her bottle. She is sitting up but I don't know if she understands what she's doing because when she tips over she gets super mad! She is also getting up on her knees and rocking, I can tell she wants to crawl and she is so close but her little legs just won't stay in place when she tries to move them. I think one more month and she will figure this crawling thing out and then we will be in trouble. She loves Laela and Mason and her binky. She is soooo CUTE and we love her so much!!

Here are lots of pictures of the cuteness!!

Preschool Graduation!

2011-06-23T18:22:00.001-07:00

Laela graduated from preschool on May 18th. She was very excited about graduation but sad to leave her preschool friends and teacher. She had a wonderful teacher and she learned so much this year. Here she is ready to go to graduation.

In her new dress and shoes that she picked out herself for her special night.

Mason just had to be in a picture but I couldn't get him to make a normal face.

Walking back after finishing the program they put together, the kids did such a cute job. Laela's teacher asked each student to make their very own doll for graduation and of course Laela decorated her doll like a princess. It is on the wall to the right of her with the big princess crown.

Laela, Mason and Makenzie with Papa and Dee Dee

So proud of our beautiful Laelabug!!

So Lucky!!

2011-04-29T15:04:00.000-07:00

I am so lucky!! Look at these three, they are beautiful! Most days are pretty crazy around here like yesterday when the kids were covered in mud, the house was a wreck and I hadn't showered in days but I am so lucky. They are healthy and sweet and I LOVE them to pieces.

Some days when I slow down and just watch them smile and laugh and play I'm reminded that this is what life is all about. Life's not about money or things it's about family and I am so blessed to have a wonderful family!

Egg Hunting and Easter

2011-04-25T21:03:00.000-07:00

This year we went to the Howard Easter egg hunt and barbecue. The kids had fun hunting for eggs and playing with cousins.

Mason had a little trouble finding eggs, when I went through his basket I discovered that he had found a lot of half broken plastic eggs but he was pretty happy about it.

Laela with her special Nerd egg.

Laela and cousin Elly.

Kenzie cuddled with Nana through most of the egg hunting and barbecue.

On to Easter morning. JR and I woke the kids up early so that they could open baskets before he went to work, I thought they would be grouchy but they were excited.

Laela ready to open her basket.

It has become a tradition at our house that the kids wear these bunny ears and have their picture taken. I think Kenzie looks like a cute little fat bunny.

Mason would not put the ears on but I made Laela and I think she was a little embarrassed.

Kenzie with her new toys.

Mason pretty much just wanted the chocolate, he is definitely my child.

Laela eating candy for breakfast.

Nani bunny sent the kids pillow pets and a lot of other things that they were excited about. I think these three had the best Easter ever.

Cookies and More Easter Eggs

2011-04-23T17:15:00.000-07:00

Laela and Mason LOVE making cookies with me. Laela found the Easter cookie cutters and asked if we could make cookies and I can't ever say no to cookies.

Mason had a bit of a hard time with his cookies and when he was done cutting them out there were all sorts of things stuck to his dough so I just let him use it like play dough.

Laela and her Easter flower. She is turning into a pretty good little baker.

Yum!!

After cookies we did more Easter eggs.

I think we ended up with four dozen colored eggs and the kids never got tired of it.

I love this picture!

I have always thought Mason and Makenzie look so much alike and this picture proves it.

Isn't she soooo cute!

They were tired of the picture taking.

I Love You in blue.

First Foods

2011-04-22T06:08:00.000-07:00

This little girl is so hungry and eats so much that I decided it was time for some food. I gave her some rice cereal and she didn't seem that excited about it. She just played with it and smiled. A couple weeks after I tried the rice I fed her some bananas and she ate them up.

I think that's a thumbs up on the bananas!

Easter Eggs and Cousins

2011-04-21T17:29:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago we got to have my cute little nieces over to play for the day. Laela was in Heaven! Mason was surrounded by girls, poor kid! Anyway they all had so much fun playing and running around and eating cookies, ice cream and cupcakes and a lot of other junk they shouldn't be eating. We did Easter eggs and they loved it.

This is Dolly. Well not really, that's just Mason's name for her. I kept telling Mason her name was Mallory but he couldn't get it right and he called her Dolly all day. When she left he said "Mommy where Dolly go?"

I'm so glad all these kids are so close in age because cousins are the best!

So Tired

2011-04-20T13:06:00.000-07:00

A couple months ago we moved Mason from his crib to a bed, he loves his bed but won't stay in all night. So I tried keeping him from taking naps thinking he would be exhausted and sleep through the night. It hasn't really worked. After a couple days with no naps I found him tucked away in a cozy little bed that he made.

Four Months

2011-04-19T13:30:00.000-07:00

I feel bad I haven't posted more about Makenzie. I'm so busy with three I haven't had any extra time to just post about Kenzie Pie. She is so sweet and so cute and we LOVE her so much. At four months she weighs fourteen pounds and is twenty four and a half inches long. She smiles and laughs and can roll to her side. She grabs everything and it goes straight to her mouth. She drools on everything and hates being on her tummy. She loves Laela and Laela can make her laugh so hard, it's the cutest thing ever. She is growing so fast and is already in six to nine month size clothes. Oh and she loves to eat! I LOVE this little girl. I don't know what I did without her. Here are lots of pictures at four months.

LOVE this picture. This is how she always is.

While I was taking these pictures she got hold of the paper towels and unrolled the whole thing.

The Monkeys

2011-03-19T18:54:00.000-07:00

These kids are growing up so fast! Most days are pretty crazy but I wouldn't change a thing. Laela and Mason begged me to get the pool out the other day because it has been so hot here. I got it out and then they told me it was to cold.

Laela surprises me every day with the things she knows. She must really be paying attention to everything around her. The other day I asked her if she wanted to go potty before we went to town and she said no, so I asked her "are you sure?" She said "Yes Mommy I'm positive!" She makes me laugh.

Mason Porter is as crazy as ever. He is into everything, I mean everything! He loves to put stuff in the potty especially toilet paper and then see how many flushes it takes to get it to go down. It never makes it past a couple flushes before it overflows all over the floor. The other day the water made it all the way to the bathroom door, it was a mess. He loves to whack stuff with hammers and he loves to play outside in the mud. He is a stinker but I think he's my sweetest. He will still cuddle with me at times and he will say "Mommy I love you" sometimes he will even say "Mommy you pretty."

Our little Kenzie is growing up the fastest! She is sooo cute and sweet and chubby! She is wearing clothes at three months that Laela wore at eight months.She eats all day and is awake a lot more during the day. She still sleeps with me at night and I love it even though I don't sleep that great. At three and a half months she weighs almost fourteen pounds, she smiles at anyone who talks to her, she loves to be outside, she laughs, she chews on her fingers, she can get her feet, she drools on everything and she is starting to scoot a little on her back. She is such a sweet baby.

I love these monkeys so much!!

Laelabug Is Five!!

2011-02-20T10:30:00.000-08:00

I can't believe she is five! Laela made this birthday very easy for me, all she wanted was a pillow pet and a princess cake.

Here she is with her princess cake that she picked out.

We decided to take her to Phoenix over night for her Birthday so JR came home early and we sang Happy Birthday, opened presents and then headed to Phoenix.

Opening her presents.

She got a new princess movie.

Her purple pillow pet. She loves this and sleeps with it every night.

When we got to Phoenix she wanted to go to Target, she loves Target, so we went and she shopped. She ended up with quite a bit of stuff this year. She got puzzles, clothes, shoes, chalk, paint, a build a bear and lots of other things!

Laela is funny, sweet, wild, and a great big sister, mostly to Makenzie and sometimes to Mason. She loves her preschool class and is learning so much, sometimes I think she is smarter than me. She makes me laugh all the time. She can ask a hundred questions in under a minute. She is very kind and if you get hurt or are sad she is the first one to ask if you are okay and give you a hug. She is very protective and will yell at anyone who is mean to Mason, I have seen her do it so watch out. She loves to read scripture stories and that makes me so happy. She loves to play outside in the mud and get dirty and she still hates taking baths but I make her anyway. Laela knows what she wants and you can't change her mind, sometimes it's a pain but I'm glad she's that way. She makes me smile. I love this little girl so much! Happy Birthday my Laelabug!

Valentines

2011-02-14T21:29:00.000-08:00

For Valentines day I wanted to make some Valentines Crafts with the kids but I got so busy and they just wanted to play outside so we made rice krispie treats instead. They had fun pouring tons of sprinkles on them and cutting them into heart shapes.

I can't ever get Laela to make a normal face in a picture.

Laela had a fun Valentines party at school. They had treats and passed out Valentines, she loved it!

I didn't get any pictures of Kenzie because she slept through most of her first Valentines Day but I did dress her in pink and red and she looked super cute!

Makenzie's Blessing Day

2011-02-06T21:58:00.000-08:00

JR blessed our sweet little Makenzie on Sunday February sixth in Central Ward. He gave her the most beautiful blessing.

She looked so cute in her little blessing dress!!

We were so lucky to have her Grandpa Hancock, Grandpa Howard, Grandpa Allen, Papa Howard, Uncle Scott and Uncle Nate all stand in and be a part of her blessing.

Love my little family!

I love this sweet little girl so much!!

Here are a few more pictures of Makenzie in her blessing dress.

We love you sweet baby and are so blessed to have you in our family.

Weston & Anna's Wedding

2011-02-04T21:51:00.000-08:00

In January we got to fly home to Florida for my little brother Weston's wedding. I wasn't sure how we were going to do it with a five week old baby and two crazy little kids but everything worked out and I'm so happy we were able to be there. I wish I had gotten more pictures.

I love this picture of Laela holding her papa's hand.

Weston and my new beautiful sister Anna with all the nieces and nephews. I can't believe how fast my family is growing, I LOVE it!!

I love this picture!! They are the happiest couple, always smiling.

I am so happy that we were able to be there and be in the Temple with them. There is nothing better than family!!

Christmas 2010

2011-01-20T21:32:00.000-08:00

This was our first Christmas home in a couple years and it was crazy busy and lots of fun!

I had to get this before shot so that when you see the after shot you will see how much fun this Christmas morning was.

JR stayed up late putting toys together and I couldn't sleep Christmas Eve because I was so excited for the kids. I got up early and JR and I looked at eachother and said "Let's go wake them up!" I think we were more excited about all this than they were.

It didn't seem like we got them that much but between grandparents, neighbors, Santa and us there was a lot to open.

Laela was so happy to get her Leapster.

Mason with his alphabet train.

Mason loves his Stinky the trash truck.

Laela with her new toys.

The kids opening more presents.

Here are the after shots. This is my favorite part of Christmas!! I love looking at this, it looks so fun to me.

Sweet little Makenzie is mixed in there somewhere. She was so sweet and slept through the whole day. I can't wait for next year when she is walking around and playing in the wrapping paper.

Makenzie Kae Howard

2011-01-20T18:58:00.000-08:00

Our sweet little Makenzie arrived Saturday November 27th at 3:41 in the afternoon.

She weighed seven pounds one ounce and was nineteen inches long.

She is beautiful!!

This labor was a bit harder than Laela and Mason's but it still wasn't that bad. I woke up early Saturday morning with contractions a few minutes apart and went into the hospital at eight. I kept telling myself that it wasn't time but once we got to the hospital the nurses told me Makenzie was ready.

Meeting her Daddy

Laela LOVES her baby sister so much and is such a great help to me with Makenzie.

Mason isn't to sure about this baby. It has taken him awhile to warm up to her.

My three little monkeys

I was so lucky to have almost my whole family here. Makenzie came just in time to meet them all before they headed back to Florida.

Meeting Papa and Nani Liljenquist

Meeting Papa and Nana Howard

Uncle Weston and Makenzie

Meeting Aunt Kimmy

I really didn't want to have my picture taken right after having a baby but Grandma Liljenquist was at the hospital and this is four generations.

I am so happy that my sweet little Makenzie is here. She is such a sweet baby.We love her so, so much!!

Thanksgiving

2011-01-04T08:33:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving was awesome!! My family came all the way from Florida to spend it with us this year. It was so nice having them here and spending time together. I, being almost forty weeks pregnant, didn't get any pictures but my sisters boyfriend, who takes amazing pictures, took a bunch that I stole from him.

Mom with the kids

Laelabug

Mason

Friday the family decided to go to the mountain to see if they could find snow but had no luck.

Andy

Dad

Uncle Brian

Kimmy and Tyler

Weston and my new sister Anna

I love this picture. I am so excited for my little brother to get married.

Mason & Popper

Love this picture of Grandpa

There is nothing better than being with family! This was a Thanksgiving I will never forget.

Out In The Cotton

2010-11-20T16:10:00.000-08:00

Picking time is our favorite time of year! The kids and I got to go out and take JR lunch just about every day and we all got to ride the picker one night. The kids loved going to watch JR pick and play in the cotton. This was the last day of picking and so we went out and took pictures before the cotton was all gone. Here are a few of them.

Halloween

2010-11-18T18:04:00.000-08:00

My kids LOVE Halloween! Lalea talked about it for a month and Mason is still saying "Trick or Treat" and it's the middle of November.

Here they are with JR carving pumpkins.I think Laela looks like her pumpkin.

Getting the "yucky stuff" out.

Hard at work.

So proud of their work.

Happy little boy with his "scarewee pumpkin."

The morning of Halloween I took they kids to Bashas to do trick or treating in the store and Laela got to decorate her very own cake. I think it turned out cute and it was very yummy!

Our cute little Cinderella. Laela changed her mind about her costume about fifteen times. She finally picked Cinderella and her Nani Kendee bought her costume and the cutest Cinderella slippers you ever saw.

We couldn't decide what Mason should be so I guess he was a cowboy, farmer, sheriff.

Mason didn't really understand any of it but e was really happy with his bag full of candy and Laela was super excited about everything!

The kids had so much fun and ended up with so much candy that we are still eating.

It was definitely a happy Halloween!

Mississippi Mud Flap

2010-10-25T20:05:00.000-07:00

Can you look at this without laughing

Vacation

2010-10-23T20:51:00.000-07:00

Last month we got to go to Florida for a couple weeks to visit my family. It was a fun and crazy trip. JR decided that we should drive. Growing up my family would make the drive from Florida to Arizona just about every summer so I knew it was going to be crazy with two little kids. We survived and Laela and Mason actually did a lot better than I thought. We left early Saturday and headed for Missouri. The drive wasn't bad but we were happy to finally get there.

I was horrible about taking pictures on this trip. Thanks Ashley for all of these pictures.

Laela and Mason playing at the Missouri property.

Laela camping out at Papa's cabin.

The kids and I only stayed one night in Missouri and then we flew to Florida while JR and Dad stayed and hunted. I wish I would have taken more pictures because we did lots of fun things but we did get some pictures at the beach.

Laela and Mason LOVED the beach!! I have never seen them so happy before. Mason even fell face first in the water and when he got up he laughed.

Have you ever seen a kid this happy!

If we lived closer to the beach I would take them every week. They are definitely beach kids. When Mason looks at these pictures he points and says "I wanna swim!"

When JR got to Florida we took the kids to Disney. They had a Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and the kids loved it. Laela and Mason got to wear their Halloween costumes and trick or treat throughout the park. They had the best parade I have ever seen and fireworks.

Mason's first trip to Disney World. I don't know why he looks grouchy because he loved it!

Laela loved going on all the rides. I thought she would get scared on The Haunted House ride but she didn't and when she got off she told me how funny it was that a ghost sat by her.

I really don't know why he looks so grumpy?

The kids were so excited to see Mickey and Minnie. Mason ran to Mickey as soon as he saw him and yelled "MOUSE." He was mad at me when I made him leave

Vacations always go by way to fast but it was so nice to go home and spend time with my family.

Baby News

2010-10-22T09:20:00.000-07:00

Our little girl is right on schedule and growing just as she should be. I had an ultrasound done on September 17th, right before we left for Florida. The doctor said she looks great. At 29 weeks they measured her at 3 pounds 3 ounces. The ultrasound tech kept saying "She is so cute!" I really don't think you can see that much from an ultrasound but she kept saying how cute she was. I'm sure she is! She moves around a lot, more during the day and less at night, thank goodness! Maybe she will sleep through the night as soon as she gets here. I guess I can hope for that. I am growing and growing and don't know how I can grow any more. Poor little girl is probably so squished. We haven't really decided on a name yet but JR and I both like Makenzie so we will see if it fits her when she gets here. Laela is so excited for her sister to come. The other day she was playing with Mason and a couple other boys and she said "Mommy there are no girls here, I want my baby sister to hurry and get here." I can't wait for her to have a sister. Mason really has no idea what's going on or how his life is going to change but I'm sure he will be just fine. Only five and half weeks left!!

Mason's Two!

2010-10-21T09:00:00.000-07:00

Wow I can't believe our little guy is TWO!
It's hard to believe this was two years ago. Time goes by so fast.

Mason turned two on September 14th and for his birthday we had a little family party. Now that I'm looking at the pictures I wish I would have waited until he was more awake to do his birthday because he looks really tired in every picture.

He picked out a John Deere tractor cake of course and the little tractor on top of the cake has been his favorite toy for a month.

He got some movies, clothes, toys, trucks, a tricycle and a pretty cool John Deere tractor! Yes he is very spoiled!

He hasn't quite figured out how to pedal his tractor yet but I'm sure he will soon. Laela decided it would be easier if she drive the tractor and just pull him around in the wagon, it works and it's pretty cute!

Finally a smile! I knew the cake would make him happy.

Happy Birthday Buddy!

August

2010-09-01T08:45:00.000-07:00

So glad August is over, it is not my favorite month but I do love September!

Laela started her second year of preschool on August 12th. She was very excited!

She talked about going for weeks and was so happy when the day finally came. She loves her new teacher and her new friends.

As soon as I started taking pictures of Laela, Mason joined in. I told him Laela was going to school and he ran in his room, grabbed his backpack and said "I go school!" He really thought he was going with her. When I was getting her in the car he climbed in with his backpack and shoes and said "Go school wif aeya."

Mason and I didn't handle the day as well as Laela did. I, of course, cried after I dropped her off. She is just growing up so fast. Mason asked for her the whole time she was gone and ran around the house looking for her. I don't know what we are going to do next year when she goes for a full day.

She does love it though and that makes me so happy!

Mason is up to the same old thing, TROUBLE!

This little boy finds a new way to cause trouble every day.

He does make me laugh though and he is so, so sweet. He always says "Pweease" and "Thanks Mimi." I'm Mimi for some reason?

I can't believe he is going to be two this month. Every time I ask him what he wants for his birthday he says "A bike." He loves bikes. So I think that is what he will get.

Our baby girl still doesn't have a name. She's pretty quiet most of the day and kicks a lot in the middle of the night. I hope she doesn't have her days and nights mixed up when she gets here. She must be growing a lot because I sure am. The doctor scheduled me for an ultrasound in a few weeks and I can't wait to see her.

Chocate!

2010-08-17T14:21:00.000-07:00

For Mom and Dad, thought this would make you smile!

Hawley Lake and A Few Other Things

2010-07-15T13:47:00.000-07:00

Tuesday Dee Dee called and asked if the kids and I wanted to ride up to Hawley Lake with her. It has been so HOT here and so I was excited to go and get out of this heat. Wednesday morning we headed up there. It was only supposed to be a four hour drive but I think it ended up taking us about six hours. My kids do not do well when traveling through mountains. Mason got sick first and threw up so we stopped, cleaned it up and changed him. Then about thirty minutes later Laela got sick and threw up so we stopped and cleaned that up. Thirty minutes after that Mason threw up again and so we stopped, cleaned everything up and changed him. He was out of clothes and so we made another stop and bought him an outfit. While we were stopped I was helping Laela change and I look up to see Mason dumping a cup of root beer all over the new outfit I had just bought him, little stinker. It was still in the bag but it was all sticky and so he never even wore it. Anyway after about five unplanned stops we made it to the Lake. My Uncle Brian and his family were already up there in a cabin. Once we got to the cabin everything was fine and I think the kids enjoyed it.

The weather was so nice, only about sixty degrees and it sprinkled all day. I could live there. We all went down to the Lake for a bit and Brian rented some boats. The boat ride was Laela's favorite part of the day, actually I think it was the only part of the day she liked she was pretty cranky.

Mason loved it! He loved running around and playing in the dirt. While he was running around he found a cow pie and stepped right in the middle of it, on purpose, so after everything he wasn't a sweet smelling little boy anymore. Anyway it started getting dark so Dee Dee and I decided we'd better get on the road. We thought the kids might sleep on the drive back but they didn't and Mason ended up throwing up again on the way home. Poor Dee Dee is probably never going to ask us to go with her again. It was a long day but I loved getting away and spending time with my kids and family.

A few other things I'd better write down before I forget, Laela went on her first date to see Toy Story 3 with her Dad. I wanted to get a picture but JR told me there wasn't time and now I wish I had. I was worried she wouldn't sit through the movie but he said she did fine.

Also Laela was asked to be the reverent child at church, she is excited about it and I'm so proud of her. That same day after church she asked if she could have scissors to cut out a picture for JR. She has used scissors before and there has never been a problem so I gave her a pair. A little while later I look over at her and she was cutting her hair!! RRRR I wasn't very happy. She cut about 4 inches off. I took her and had to get it cut to her shoulders. It is really cute but since December she's had 10 inches cut off and it makes me sad that all her baby hair is gone.

Laela almost scared me to death a couple weeks ago. We were outside and she was playing in the ditch behind our house when all the sudden I hear her scream. I have never heard anyone scream like that before! I look up and see her running for her life towards me so then I start running to see what's going on. She was running so fast that she tripped and couldn't get up fast enough. I get to her and she's crying and screaming. She tells me there is a snake out there and it bit her. So I am looking all over her body for a bite, I'm trying to stay calm and I ask her what the snake looked like? She said it was a rattlesnake. So now I'm panicking because I can't find where it bit her and Mason was playing right beside her in the ditch. I run grab Mason, grab Laela and am ready to go the hospital. I ask Laela again where did it get you? Well once I said the word "Hospital" she told me it didn't bite her it just touched her. So I call JR and he comes home to kill the rattlesnake. Four neighbor boys heard her screams and they all run over to kill this rattlesnake. JR gets home and the neighbor boys had already found the snake, it was a king snake. Seriously I think the whole neighborhood heard her scream. I had neighbors over asking me if she was okay and if I was going to take her to the hospital. It was crazy!!

Mason went to Nursery and stayed by himself for the first time. The teacher said he only cried for a little bit. It only lasted that one week though, poor little boy hates it. I hope I can get him to stay by himself before this baby girl gets here.

I also finally took him off the bottle last month. I know I should have done it a long time ago but I guess I wasn't ready, it's so easy to give him a "baba" when he's sad. He has been doing fine and only cried a little the first night. It's always easier than I think it's going to be.

One thing I have learned about life as a Mom is that it may be really, really crazy but at least I'm not bored.

It's a GIRL!

2010-06-30T14:11:00.000-07:00

I have been waiting for this day for weeks and it has felt like an eternity! I am so excited to finally say that we are having another little girl. Laela is so happy that she is going to have a sister! The whole way home from the ultrasound she talked about her new baby sister and how much she loves her.

Here is her cute little face. I love that she's got JR's nose, so cute!

Here she is from the side facing down.

Here is her head and tummy.

The doctor said everything looks really good. She weighs about eight ounces and is right on schedule to be here November 29th. I am so excited to start getting ready for this little girl.

A Little Update

2010-06-19T11:50:00.000-07:00

We have been busy, as always, so I haven't had much time for this blog and I have been so bad about taking pictures of my little monkeys.

Last month Laela finished her first semester of preschool, she has a cute little pink diploma on the fridge. She loves school and she is ready to start again. Dee Dee called and told me a funny story about Laela that I don't want to forget. There is a little school right around the corner from Dee Dee's house and Laela was at Dee Dee's right at the time when school gets out. Well the cars started slowing down, to pick up kids, as they passed the house. Little Miss Laela looked at Dee Dee and asked "Are those cars slowing down to look at me because I'm so pretty." Dee Dee and I both laughed as she told me that story. I'm glad Laela knows she's beautiful!

Our little Mason, I guess I shouldn't say little, is growing fast! I'm sure he is going to catch up to Laela soon. He is a funny little boy and he keeps me smiling even though he likes to do naughty things. He dipped a whole roll of toilet paper in the potty yesterday and drug it all over my floor. There are little bits of dried toilet paper stuck all over the tile, all over my house. Today we were eating breakfast and Mason dumped his bowl of cereal everywhere, Laela looked at me and asked "Mommy why did you have two kids?" I told her " So that you could have a brother, didn't you want a brother?" She said " NO, not like that bad little one!" She really does love Mason even though she thinks he's bad.

I'm pretty sure it's going to be crazy around here, for awhile, when this baby is born but I'm excited that our little family is growing.

Sweet Baby

2010-05-10T13:46:00.000-07:00

I had my first ultrasound last Thursday! This is the baby at ten and a half weeks. I'm already in love with this little one. It was a big surprise for JR and I. We were thinking we would wait until the fall before we would try for another baby but this little one didn't want to wait. I got to hear the heartbeat, which makes it finally seem so real. Even though I have done this twice before I still had to hold back tears through my ultrasound.There is nothing in the world like seeing your little baby.

All throughout the ultrasound the baby was moving around and so I got to see the arms moving and the legs moving. The doctor said "Wow that's an active baby." Hmm, made me think we might have another crazy little boy coming to join our family.

Here the baby has it's hand beside it's head. You can see the thumb and fingers together.

So this little one should be here November 29th. and we are so very excited!

I can't believe I'm going to have three little kids running around!

"A Bad One!"

2010-05-10T12:56:00.000-07:00

The other day Laela and I were talking about the baby and what we need to do to get ready.This is how the conversation went.

Laela: Mommy the baby can wear the clothes we already have.
Mom: Should we let the baby wear Mason's old clothes?
Laela: No mommy my clothes because it's a girl baby.
Mom: What if it's a baby boy?
Laela: It's not mommy it's a girl baby!
Mom: Well what if it is. Then you will have two little brothers.
Laela: (Pointing to Mason) Well we can just give this one away because he's a bad one!

Our Busy Easter

2010-05-10T12:54:00.000-07:00

Laela had so much fun having her cousins over to color Easter eggs!

By the time the kids were finished every egg had been in every color so most of the eggs were brown.

After we finished Easter eggs we went to the Howard family Easter party and had a barbecue.

Then my family decided they wanted to go camping for Easter so from the party we rushed home and packed for camping. JR's good friend let us borrow his RV, which was so nice because I wasn't sure about camping in a tent with Mason.

Popper, Laela and Mason.

Mason LOVED camping. He is an outside boy and he loved being able to run around throwing rocks and playing in the dirt.

Laela so excited to hunt for eggs!

Laela wasn't sure how the Easter bunny was going to find her but he did and she was so happy with what he brought her.

Free Shipping

2010-03-26T11:38:00.000-07:00

Mason has been keeping me very busy!!

I think I might send him to Florida. I'm sure my Mom would LOVE to have him.

He loves to take his diaper off and play in the potty. A few weeks ago I went to check on him and I watched as he opened the toilet, took his diaper off, threw it in and flushed it away. He saw me watching him. He ran past me the second he did it, laughing. I guess he thought it was pretty funny.

The other day Laela came in and told Mason took his diaper off. I caught him with a dirty little bum and he took off! I looked everywhere for the dirty diaper. After I found the diaper I realized Mason was still running around with a dirty bum! We now have dirty bum prints on lots of things at our house.

My little boy got into the nail polish, threw it everywhere and cracked a few bottles open while he was at it. It was RED. So I grabbed him and put him in his high chair with a bowl of cereal so that I could clean up the mess. The nail polish was all over the door and the only way to get it off was polish remover. Well the nail polish came off and so did the white paint on the door. Now I get to paint a door. I went back to get Mason out of his high chair and he dumped his cherrios on his head and the milk was dripping down his face. I looked at him and he smiled really big with his funny little teeth. It was hard not to laugh a little. I love this little boy!

Lesson Learned

2010-03-24T17:00:00.000-07:00

Never answer the phone when there is cookie dough, an open bag of flour and two little monsters

in the kitchen!

Green Cookies

2010-03-23T17:16:00.000-07:00

I thought Laela might hate St. Patricks day after this past one, she had to get three shots and Mason had to get two. I wasn't sure how I was going to do with both of them getting shots at the same time but it was fine. They only cried for a minute. I told her if she was really brave I would get her the Dora swimsuit and we would make green cookies. So she got her Dora swimsuit and hasn't taken it off for a few days.

Then we made and ate way to many green cookies!

It was so funny, while we were making the cookies we were talking about St. Patricks Day and Laela thought St. Patricks Day was a day for Patrick from Spongebob. I laughed and told her a little more about it and she asked "When are we going to St. Patricks Day?" I guess she is still to little to understand but she did like pinching her little brother.

Smart Little Guy!

2010-03-23T12:35:00.000-07:00

Maybe this is normal for a little boy or maybe he is just really smart! Mason figured out how to unlock our doors with a butter knife. I've had to keep the bathroom doors locked beacuse he LOVES to play in the toilet, so gross! Anyway he saw me unlock the door one day and I guess he figured "if Mom can do it maybe I'll give it a try."

So I watched him and he unlocked it pretty fast.

Makes me laugh! Wow if he can unlock a door with a butter knife at eighteen months I wonder what he will be doing by age two? I think I'm in trouble!!

Our Laelabug Is 4!!

2010-03-19T18:00:00.000-07:00

She's four!! Wow she is growing so fast. It really feels like she was just my tiny little baby and now she is in Preschool and Sunbeams. She is so, so smart maybe a little to smart. She loves to draw and paint and play outside. She loves her little brother and she is such a GREAT big sister. She helps me with so much. She does still have her little tantrums but she is pretty sweet most of the time. She LOVES to ask a MILLION questions. She wants to know about everything and I love that about her. She makes me laugh and smile everyday. The other day she was riding her bike and I was pushing Mason behind her on the scooter and she said "Follow me Mason I have the perfect magination!" Such a funny girl. So to her Birthday, her teacher made her the cutest little cookie cake and Birthday crown. She loved it!

Here is her box from Nani and Papa Liljenquist. She loves getting things in the mail.

When Nani asked her what she wanted she told her a princess card. She LOVES this card! It plays princess music and she's carried it around for a month opening it and listening to the music.

Here is our little princess with her princess cake.

I haven't been able to put the video on here but after she blew out her candles I asked her what she wished for and she said " I wished to be a princess!"

After JR got home from work we took her to Phoenix for the night and went to Chuck E Cheese and Toys R Us. This little girl always has the best Birthdays and between all the Grandparents she got eveything she wanted! I love you my little Laela!!

Valentines

2010-03-18T20:53:00.000-07:00

We LOVE Valentines day! It's my favorite day. This year Laela got to make her very own Valentines for her Preschool Valentines party. It was so much fun! She and I looked at a few different ideas and she picked lollipop flowers.

She cut out pink hearts for the girls and blue for the boys.

Laela with her cute Valentines.

When I picked her up from Preschool she was so excited to show me all the different Valentines she recieved from her friends and her teacher. Holidays are so much fun with kids!!

Our Snow Day

2010-02-10T09:35:00.001-08:00

We had a little storm a couple weeks ago so JR took the day off and took us up to Mt. Graham to play in the snow. We only made it to Noon Creek because I was to big of a chicken to let JR drive any further on the wet, icy road. It was so fun and it was FREEZING!! I knew it was going to be cold but it was windy and still snowing a little.

Laela loved it!

All the trees were covered in snow and everything looked so pretty.

Poor Mason! He really hasn't ever been in the snow and I think he was really cold and confused.

He pretty much just stood in one place the whole time until JR or I picked him up and moved him.

Laela making her snow angel.

We only stayed for thirty minutes because we were all freezing by that time but it was so fun! I'm glad we went.

JR's Birthday

2010-02-08T11:01:00.000-08:00

I know JR probably doesn't want me to blog his 31st birthday and I wouldn't but Laela told me to "put it on the blog mama." One thing about Laela is that she will not leave you alone about something until you do it, so here is JR's 31st birthday. We didn't really do much. JR likes things simple and when I asked him if he wanted a party he just said "no". So Laela and I made him an ugly football cake. It tasted good but I know I could win "The Ugliest Cake Of The Year Award," every year on JR's birthday. Oh well I tried. Dee Dee and Grandpa stopped by to drop a birthday card off just in time to sing Happy Birthday with us. Happy 31st birthday!!

Laela's First Day Of School!

2010-02-03T18:10:00.000-08:00

Laela started preschool! Her first day was January eleventh and she LOVED it. She has talked about going to school for a long time now and she was so ready. The night before her first day she picked out her outfit and had her backpack right by her bed all ready to go. Monday morning she got right up and asked me every two minutes if it was time to go yet. When I dropped her off I teared up a little, I can't believe how fast she is growing up. Some days I want to stop her from growing up but at the same time I'm so excited for her to grow and learn new things. When I picked her up she was so excited to tell me about her new school friends and how much she loves her teacher Jen. I'm so excited for you my Laelabug!!

I had taken about twenty pictures of her before school but after about the first ten she told me that was enough and that she was ready to go! Oh she's growing up too fast.

More From Florida

2010-02-02T18:14:00.000-08:00

Just a few more pictures from Florida. I didn't realize how bad this kid needed a haircut until he got one. His hair was really long and the back had lots of curls.

Aunt Ashley giving the kids rides around the house.

Mason and Laela on the merry go round at Down Town Disney.

Laela in heaven at Nani and Papa's house!

The kids had so much fun playing together! Laela still talks about her Florida cousins and how she misses them.

Mason, Diesel, Laela, Jade, Kolton and Buck.

Laela and Buck on New Years Eve.

My Husband on New Years Eve.

Just in case Tyler wanted to be on this blog!

Ponce Inlet

2010-02-01T17:24:00.000-08:00

While we were in Florida we all went to Ponce Inlet. It is such a beautiful beach! It was cold and windy that day so we didn't do any swimming but we walked the beach and got a few pictures.

While we were there we decided to climb to the top of the lighthouse. It seemed like a fun idea and I'm glad I did it but it was a workout. I can't remember exactly how many steps there were but there were over 200. I know that doesn't sound like a lot but we were all sweating by the time we got to the top.

Finally at the top. It was so windy it felt like the top of that lighthouse was rocking. I think it scared Laela a little.

Home For Christmas

2010-01-20T08:22:00.000-08:00

We decided that we would go to Florida for Christmas this year. I was so excited to see my family because it had been a whole year since I've been home

Here is Laela and Mason a couple days before we left. Laela loves her little brother and she is pretty sweet to him most of the time.

In front of our Christmas tree. I think I have the cutest kids ever!

Christmas Eve at Dad and Mom's. When Laela woke up and saw Santa tracks she thought it was the neatest thing ever.

Have you ever seen a kid this excited about a new toy!

Laela LOVES her bike.

Mason and Laela playing in Mason's Ball house from Santa.

So excited about all these presents!

His horsey from Papa and Nani.

I think JR wished he was still sleeping.

Papa and Nani with all their grandbabies.

Christmas day with the family, I love my family SOO MUCH. Just missing Uncle Weston! Only four months until he's home from his mission.

Laela's Gingerbread House

2009-12-13T21:56:00.000-08:00

I love Christmas time! I love everything about it. It's even more fun when you have kids. Laela had been asking me for weeks to build a gingerbread house. So she and JR started one.

JR left for a minute and Laela took over.

She decided she wanted to do it her own way. I think it looks neat!

After about two minutes she decided it was time to eat it, well the frosting.

Yummy.

What a beautiful gingerbread house!

In The Cotton

2009-12-11T12:43:00.000-08:00

I like to get a few pictures of the kids in the cotton every year. These pictures are from November and the cotton is all picked now but I wanted to post a few.

I couldn't get Mason to look at me, he was to interested in watching the picker.

The kids loved the picker. Laela got to ride for the first time this year and pick cotton with JR.

Splish Splash

2009-12-11T12:22:00.001-08:00

These two LOVE taking baths, especially in my bathtub. Laela loves to fill the tub full of bubbles and throw them all over Mason's head and make bubble beards on his face.

I think Mason looks like a little bubble monster here.

My Late Halloween Pictures

2009-11-17T16:08:00.000-08:00

This year Laela decided she wanted to be Snow White again and Mason was going to be a chicken but I couldn't fit the costume around his tummy so I got to work and made him a mummy. Here is the only picture I could get of them looking at the camera at the same time.

I know Mason didn't have a clue what was going on but he loved Laela's dress. He wouldn't stop pulling on it.

Laela telling him to leave her pretty dress alone.

I took the kids to Bashas where they had a little costume contest and trick or treating through out store. They both got doughnuts and balloons and Laela won the "Loveliest" She is the loveliest Snow White I have ever seen. From there we went out to the stake trunk or treat and the kids loved it. There was lots of candy and hot dogs and Laela got so excited to see all the different costumes.

The kids with all their candy.

So happy about the candy!

I walked in and Laela was throwing the candy up in the air, Mason was scattering it everywhere and they where laughing so hard. I forgot how exciting Halloween was for a kid.

The Pumpkin Farmer

2009-11-12T15:24:00.000-08:00

This year JR grew a pumpkin patch. I didn't get a picture of the patch but I got a few pictures after they were picked. There were so many pumpkins!

The kids LOVED it. Laela asked about them everyday and when JR brought the trailer full of pumpkins home she was so excited.

Our little punkins.

When they were finally all gone Laela walked out and said "Mommy who took all my punkins, I liked all those punkins." She was pretty mad about it and so I guess JR will have to grow more for her next year.

Carving Pumpkins

2009-11-11T14:37:00.000-08:00

We carved a lot of pumpkins this year. We had, what seemed like, a million pumpkins from JR's pumpkin patch and so every night for about two weeks we would carve a pumpkin. We got JR to come home for a minute from picking cotton and carve some with us.
Mason was working on a pumpkin too. When he was done it had a about a hundred hole's in it from the pen he was poking it with.

Laela scooping the seeds out.

Mason loved the pumpkins. He would sit by the pumpkin and poke his little finger in their eyes and nose. I think he kinda looks like a pumpkin.

He made me laugh the first night I lit one up he put his finger in the pumpkins nose and then pointed to his nose, such a smart little baby.

Laela and Mason checking out their pumpkins.

The Fair

2009-11-07T12:04:00.000-08:00

I wasn't going to blog this because the pictures are so bad but I decided I better because Laela and Mason both had cotton entered into the fair this year. When we got to the fair I realized I forgot my camera and so I ended up taking these pictures with the camera on JR's phone.
Here is Laela on the merry go round. She really surprised me this year. Last year she cried when we tried to take her on rides but this year she wanted to go on everything.

JR and Laela on the Ferris Wheel. He said every time they would get to the top she would scream and laugh at the same time. She also went down the big slide with JR and wanted to go on bigger rides but I wouldn't let her. She is a lot braver than I am.

Here is Mason and Laela's cotton. Blue and red ribbons, such a proud Mama!

Mason and Laela looking at the animals. Mason loved the pigs and goats. I guess he is a little farm boy.

Laela's cotton.

Mason's cotton.

Oh My Little Laela Bug

2009-11-03T18:52:00.000-08:00

She talks A LOT! About everything. I think my ear is going to fall off.
I am so glad she wants to talk to me though. I hope she always does. She says some silly things like when I was getting ready to get her a hot dog and she walked in and said " Mommy you need to warm that up in the microphone."
A few nights ago while she was in the bath we were talking and she told me "Mommy tomorrow you are going to take me to Dee Dee's house and then you are going to go home and clean this house." I did just that. I guess we know who's in charge around here.
Today she came in and said "Mama babies make me throw up!" Laughing I asked why and she said "because they always get peanut butter eberywhere when the eat peanut butter and jelly samwiches." I'm laughing as I type, what a funny thing to say.

She does say some sweet things too. The other night I made homemade bread and chicken noodle soup and she said " Mommy this is the yummiest food eber, I hope you will make this eberey night." What a sweetie pie! I Love this little girl!!

Oh and I can't forget Mason Porter. He has big news, he started walking! He has been for a couple weeks. He is proud of himself and so am I. He was getting heavy and hard to carry and the muscle in my right arm was getting bigger than my left. I love when they start walking because they look like little ducks. If you want to see the cutest thing ever come over and watch him walk. I promise it will make you smile!

Good Friends and Lots of Kids

2009-10-28T15:15:00.000-07:00

In September Jami, Alicia and I met in Mesa for a couple days with our kids. These are two of the greatest girls and I was so excited to get together. The kids loved playing together. It's funny how the number of kids seems to double when you are in a small place but it was fun and they are all little sweetie pies. Here are the cute kids.

While we were there we got to watch Jami get her makeup done for pictures, she looked gorgeous and Alicia introduced me to fake eyelashes. I love them and I think every girl should try them. It was so fun to stay up late with the girls talking and eating junk food and I'm so glad we did it. Here is another picture of the kids that I stole from Alicia's blog. I thought it was cute how she edited it.

Oh and one more cute picture. We got to have Jami and Kason came and stay with us for a couple days last month. Laela couldn't wait for Kason to get to our house. I should have waited to tell her he was coming because she asked for Kason every day for a week. It was nice to have Jami here and go to lunch and do all the shopping we could do in Safford. So glad you guys came and stayed with us!

Funny Girls

2009-10-28T15:01:00.000-07:00

I was going through my pictures and I found this one and thought it was funny. Last month we got to keep cousins Elly and Ragan for a day, Laela loved it! Anyway they decided they wanted to swim and when they walked out of Laela's room from changing they all had these silly glasses on. So cute!

Tractor Ride With Dad

2009-10-20T21:46:00.001-07:00

JR came home on the tractor to scrape some weeds and when Mason saw him he pointed and yelled "DADA." He loves JR but I knew he really wanted a ride on the tractor. So JR took him on his very first tractor ride and he loved it.

Happy First Birthday Mason

2009-10-19T14:02:00.000-07:00

Our little boy turned one. I can't believe it. This year went by way to fast. Mason's birthday was a little different than what I had planned but we were in Mesa on vacation and so it was hard to throw a big party for him. We took him to to Toys R Us and looked at toys for about two hours. He seemed to like this truck the best, it is pretty cool.

We went to Chili's for lunch and got him a chocolate lava cake, he loved it and so did the rest of us. I wish I would have had my camera because he got chocolate all over his face and it was pretty cute.

It was Laela's idea to take him to Chuck E. Cheese for dinner and he loved it. He loved the pizza.

He loved the rides.

And he loved this tractor.

But Mason's favorite part of the day was the ski ball. I just love this picture. He threw that ball as hard as he could and I think it was the cutest thing I ever saw!

I think he would have played all night if we would have let him.

He had a pretty exciting day for a one year old. Happy Birthday sweet little Mason Porter. We love you so much!

A Little Vacation

2009-10-15T12:41:00.000-07:00

Every September JR gets some time off before the cotton is ready to pick so this past September we took a little vacation to Mesa. I don't think JR really counts it as a vacation but it was nice to get away and the kids had fun. Here is Laela and Mason on the Light Rail. Laela thought it was a "cool train."

JR thought the Light Rail was lame.

We stopped right by the University, walked around for a bit and found a fun little park. Laela loved that the pigeons would come right up and eat from your hand.

We found that pigeons love Goldfish as much as kids.

Laela with these two strange guys. I think they scared her.

We decided to take the kids to the Science Center. There wasn't a whole lot to do for little kids but I think Laela still had fun. The gift shop was her favorite.

After seeing this Laela has decided she wants to be an Astronaut someday.

It was a fun week of swimming, eating good food and relaxing.

Thanks Alicia!

2009-10-14T13:15:00.001-07:00

So this is way late but my awesome friend Alicia and her family came and stayed with us back in August and while she was here she taught me how to make this super cute tutu!

She and I took Laela to Wal Mart to pick out the material and Laela, of course, picked everything purple. I wasn't to sure about all the purple but I think it turned out pretty cute. Laela loves it and wants to wear it everywhere.

I'm so glad I have a cute little girl who loves girly things.

Little Stinker!

2009-10-13T21:03:00.000-07:00

Good thing he's so cute.

Things to remember

2009-08-26T13:03:00.000-07:00

Laela screaming down the cereal aisle that she wants "Fruity Puddles" and "Crap'n Crunch." I know I should correct her but it's really funny.

How lucky I am to have kids who love each other so much.

How funny Mason is.

To keep the toilet lid down and the trash can empty.

Finally getting into bed and having to get back up to move stuffed animals, crayons, paper and toys because Laela played pirate ship on my bed earlier in the day.

How cute they are!

A Visit From The Girls

2009-08-08T16:06:00.000-07:00

In July my cousins from Hawaii came for a visit. I haven't seen them for over a year and they had never met Mason so we were excited about their visit. While they were here the family made a trip up to the mountain. It was so nice to get out of the heat for a day. It actually got cold in the evening and we had to wear jackets, I loved it. Laela had so much fun playing with all of her cousins.

Laela and Popper.

Giving Mason kisses.

Doesn't Brian look jolly!

Love my cute cousins!

Poor Mason got my stomach and half way up the mountain he got sick but I think he still enjoyed the trip.

Laela and B picking flowers.

Laela and Papa Kent. Such a fun day and I'm so glad you girls came to visit!

Funny Kids

2009-08-06T11:31:00.000-07:00

Laela said she was the princess and Mason was the pirate. I love how simple things make kids so happy.

2009-07-31T18:02:00.000-07:00

Mason crawled out to help me wash the car and he discovered the hose.

Love This

2009-07-09T10:52:00.000-07:00

I saw this on a friends blog and it brought tears to my eyes. If you have a minute you should watch.

Howard Cousins

2009-07-02T19:50:00.000-07:00

This past month has been so, so busy but it's also been so much fun. JR's sisters both came to visit and so we got to hang out at Nana's house. Laela had so much fun playing with all of her cousins.
Mason and Ethan. I think these two are going to be pretty good buddies.

Mason with his cute little cousin Gracie.

Laela and Elly, such cute girls!

We also took a trip up to the mountain and had a picnic one Saturday afternoon.These kids make me laugh! They are all so sweet and they say some of the funniest things.

Mason and Nana.

It was so cute to see all the kids playing together. I'm so thankful that Laela and Mason have such great cousins and that we are part of such a good family.

The Zoo

2009-07-02T16:02:00.000-07:00

About a month ago we took the kids to the Phoenix Zoo, it was so much fun. We went in the evening so the weather was just right. There was so much to do and most of the animals were wide awake.It was neat how close they would let you get to the elephant. I think he was Laela's favorite.

I don't think Mason understood anything but he was so good the whole time.

Laela and JR looking at the little monkeys. This part of the zoo was my favorite. There were these tiny little monkeys that would jump right over your head, it was pretty cool. The zoo workers asked us to take the flower out of Laela's hair because they said the monkeys might think it's pretty and jump on her head. Good thing they told us because it would have been a disaster if a monkey jumped on Laela's head.

JR is seriously going to kill me for doing this but it's too funny! Before we left we went in the gift shop and they had all these masks and I think this was JR's favorite part.

I just love JR! He always makes whatever we are doing funny!

Nine Months Already

2009-07-02T15:52:00.000-07:00

Mason keeps growing. He turned nine months a couple weeks ago and he weighs 22 pounds and is 29 inches. He hasn't gained much wait in the past few months but he is getting taller. Maybe he will be tall like his great grandpas. He is so sweet and usually happy unless he wants food and then he turns into a monster. He LOVES food! He will pretty much eat anything. He won't crawl but he scoots everywhere and he can usually get where he wants. He calls Laela "RAE RA" and it's pretty cute. He keeps us busy but we love it.