KICK OFF TO SUMMER!

THE LAST COUPLE WEEKENDS WE'VE HAD VISITORS AND LOTS OF FUN! I LOVE SUMMER AND THE TIME DEREKS HAD OFF THIS MONTH TO JUST PLAY!

DEREKS SISTER TONYA DROVE CLEAR DOWN FROM CALIFORNIA JUST TO HANG OUT WITH US FOR MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND. SHE WAS LIKE SANTA CLAUS! SHE BROUGHT BOTH GIRLS A BUNCH OF PRESENTS WICH AS YOU CAN SEE ABOVE RY HAD A BLAST OPENING!

THIS WAS HER FIRST TIME SEEING CHEEKS! SHE GOT HER CUTE LITTLE NIKE PANTS WHICH I LOVE! ITS FUNNY THAT A LITTLE SWOOSH SIGN CAN MAKE SOMETHING SO CUTE !: )

I ABSOLUTLY LOVE THE ABOVE PICTURES OF HER AND RY BLOWING THE BUBBLES SHE GOT HER. IT WAS SO NICE HAVING HER HERE TO PLAY WITH THE GIRLS RYLEE NEEDED THE CHANGE OF SCENERY FROM JUST ME!

ON SATURDAY WE WENT TO THE GOOD OL SCANDINAVIAN DAY FESTIVAL. RY LOVED THE PARADE...SHE NEEDS TO WORK A LITTLE ON HER PAGENT WAVE THOUGH :)

JUST BEIN A PRETTY LITTLE GIRL. SHE LOVED DANCING TO ALL THE FESTIVAL MUSIC I LOVED JUST WATCHING HER!

THEN THIS WEEKEND OUR BEST FRIENDS FROM COLORADO HEIDI AND ANDY CAME DOWN WITH THEIR 2 KIDDOS TYCE AND SAIGE! IT WAS SO FUN HAVING THEM! RY LOVED HAVING FRIENDS AROUND ALL DAY AND NIGHT! THIS WAS THEIR FIRST TIME SEEING TAYA TOO THE KIDS WERE SO FUN WITH HER. HEIDI IS PREGNANT DUE IN SEPTEMBER SO IT WAS A GOOD WAY TO BREAK THE 2 KIDS INTO HAVING A NEW BABY AROUND SOON!

ON SATURDAY WE ALL WENT TO KANGAROO ZOO AND THEN OUT TO EAT AT MINE AND DEREKS FAVORITE PLACE SAKURA. IT WAS SO SO FUN!

PRETTY SURE DEREK AND ANDY HAD JUST AS MUCH FUN AS THE KIDS DID GOING ON THE SLIDES! THE FIRST TIME WE CAME HERE WE CAME WITH KEITH AND STACE AND I COULDN'T DO HARDLY ANYTHING CAUSE I WAS ABOUT TO POP WITH TAYA. SO THIS TIME YOU BETTER BELIEVE I WAS RUNNIN AROUND JUST LIKE A LITTLE KID TOO! OVERALL ITS BEEN SUCH A FUN MONTH HAVING DEREK OFF SCHOOL AND HAVING SO MANY FUN FRIENDS AND FAMILY AROUND! GOOD KICK OFF TO SUMMER!

NEVER BEEN SO SCARED

WE WERE LEAVING MY FRIENDS HOUSE AND AS DEREK BUCKLED RY INTO HER CAR SEAT HE TOSSED THE KEYS INTO THE FRONT SEAT AND THEN SHUT RY'S DOOR. HE WEN'T AROUND TO START THE CAR ONLY TO FIND THAT THE KEYS HAD LANDED ON THE LOCK BUTTON ON THE KEY FOB AND LOCKED THE DOORS. HE TRIED ALL THE DOORS BEFORE COMING TO GET ME IN THE HOUSE TO TELL ME TO GET A METAL HANGER. I DIDN'T FREAK OUT UNTIL HE TOLD ME TO HURRY BECAUSE RY'S ALREADY IN HER SEAT. WHY DON'T WE HAVE A SPARE KEY YOU ASK...I DUNNO WE JUST HADN'T GOTTEN ONE MADE FOR OUR NEW CAR YET BUT ANYWAY...I WAS FRANTIC! I RAN OUT TO THE CAR AND TALKED TO RY TRYING TO TELL HER HOW TO GET OUT OF HER BUCKLE. LAUREN WAS INSIDE CALLING SOMEONE TO COME UNLOCK THE DOORS BUT TIME SEEMED TO BE STANDING STILL. I FELT SO HELPLESS WATCHING MY LITTLE GIRL ALL BUCKLED INTO SOMETHING THAT NORMALLY KEEPS HER SAFE AND NOW IT WAS THE THING RESTRICTING HER FROM BEING ABLE TO REACH THE UNLOCK BUTTON. BEFORE LONG RYLEE STARTED SWEATING AND CRYING ASKING ME TO OPEN THE DOOR. OF COURSE I WAS BAWLING TOO! I CALLED MY SISTER WHO COULD ONLY UNDERSTAND HALF OF WHAT I SAID BUT SHE FINALLY JUST SAID BREAK THE WINDOW ITS NOT WORTH IT! I TOLD THE COP TO JUST BUST THE WINDOW, BUT HE KEPT REASSURING ME WE DIDN'T NEED TO YET CAUSE IT WASN'T HOT ENOUGH TO HAVE RY IN SERIOUS DANGER. I KEPT THINKING WHAT DO YOU KNOW? I'M HER MOM AND SHE'S SWEATING AND CRYING..BREAK THE DANG WINDOW. WELL LONG STORY SHORT AFTER ABOUT 15 20 MINUTES WHICH FELT LIKE AN ETERNITY RYLEE WAS ABLE TO WIGGLE OUT OF HER BUCKLE. I WAS ABLE TO GET HER TO THE DOOR AND JUST TOLD HER TO PULL SHE STARTED MESSING WITH A FEW THINGS ON THE DOOR TIL SHE FINALLY PULLED THE UNLOCK PART. I GRABBED HER UP AND HELD HER FOREVER BAWLING. DURING THAT 20 MINUTES I PROBABLY THREW UP ABOUT A MILLION PRAYERS. WHAT IF IT HADN'T HAD BEEN CLOUDY TODAY, WHAT IF DEREK HAD BUCKLED HER WHOLE BUCKLE INSTEAD OF JUST THE TOP PART, WE WOULD'VE HAD TO BREAK THE WINDOW WHICH OBVIOUSLY WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN A BIG DEAL OTHER THEN THE PART OF SHATTERED GLASS FLYING AT HER WOULD HAVE BEEN DANGEROUS TOO. OVERALL IT WAS JUST TRAMATIC! I WANT TO CRY NOW JUST PICTURING HER CRYING BEGGING ME TO OPEN THE DOOR. I HOPE I NEVER HAVE TO WATCH MY CHILD BE THAT SCARED AGAIN IT WAS HORRIBLE! ANYWAY I'M THANKFUL FOR ANSWERED PRAYERS. I'M THANKFUL FOR A SMART LITTLE GIRL WHO'S SAFE AND SOUND TUCKED IN HER BED NAPPING, AND I'LL BE THANKFUL WHEN I HAVE 20 SPARE KEYS!

IN EXCHANGE...

FOR THIS...(MY ONCE KILLER BODY)

I NOW HAVE THIS...MY SWEET FAMILY

I HEAR A TON MORE OF THIS...

I GET A LOT LESS OF THIS... : )

I HAVE A TON MORE OF THIS...(FUN)

AND A TON LESS OF THIS...!

I CHANGE A TON MORE OF THESE...

BUT ENJOY WAY MORE OF THESE...

I FEEL SO MUCH MORE OF THIS...(pure LOVE)

AND HEAR SO MUCH MORE OF THIS...(LAUGHTER)

IT'S BEEN AN EXCHANGE WELL WORTH MAKING!

I JUST SPENT A FEW MINUTES LOOKING THROUH OLD PICTURES AND I CAME ACROSS THOSE ONES OF ME SO SKINNY AND IN SHAPE AND I STARTED FEELING NICE AND FAT. I THOUGHT MAN THAT BODY OF MINE IS LONG GONE...WHO KNOWS IF I'LL EVER GET IT BACK. I'VE BEEN WORKING OUT LOTS AND TRYING TO EAT HEALTHY BUT RESULTS CAN NEVER COME FAST ENOUGH RIGHT? SO ANYWAY ONCE I STARTED THINKING ABOUT THE BODY I GAVE UP TO HAVE MY GIRLS I THOUGHT WELL HELLO LOOK HOW WORTH IT, IT IS! I MAY HAVE LOST MY FLAT TUMMY AND IN EXCHANGE GOT UGLY STRETCH MARKS AND MORE FLAB BUT MAN DID I ALSO GET A TON MORE JOY IN MY LIFE. THE CRAPPY TIMES OF CHANGING BLOW OUT DIAPERS AND BARELY HAVING ALONE TIME WITH DEREK...HAVING MY EARS RING FROM CRYING AND MY MIND STRUGGLE TO FUNCTION FROM LACK OF SLEEP COULD NEVER OUT WEIGH THE BENIFITS OF IT ALL. I LOST MY KILLER BODY, BUT MAN DID I GAIN A WHOLE LOT MORE IN EXCHANGE FOR IT. WELL THIS POST IS MY KICK OFF TO LOSING WEIGHT AND GETTIN BACK IN SHAPE. EVEN THOUGH LOSING MY NICE BODY WAS WORTH IT TO HAVE MY GIRLS IT SURE DOESN'T MEAN I WOULDN'T LIKE IT BACK! :) SO WISH ME LUCK AND IF ANY OF YOU LOVELY LADIES WANNA KEEP ME COMPANY ON MY WALKS LET ME KNOW! :) JUST DON'T BE EMBARASSED BY THE TRAIN OF A STROLLER I'LL BE HUFFIN AND PUFFIN BEHIND!

SOME FIRST TIMES AND SOME SPECIAL TIMES

SPECIAL SISTER TIME...I LOVE WATCHING RYLEE WITH TAYA SHE'S SO SWEET AND LOVEY!


MOMMY AND RY MANI AND PEDI TIME...YES EVEN THE BABY DOLLY GOT HER TOES DONE!


TAYAS FIRST TIME AT CHURCH...RYLEE WORE THE SAME DRESS HER FIRST SUNDAY TOO! ITS A LITTLE SMALLER ON TAY THOUGH :)


MAX'S FIRST TIME HOLDING TAYA...SO CUTE I'M THINKING AMY NEEDS A LITTLE GIRL SOON!

It's not easy being a mother. If it were easy, fathers would do it. ~From The Golden Girls

WETHER IT STARTED THE WAY I PLANNED OR NOT, THE GIFT OF MOTHERHOOD IN MY LIFE IS SOMETHING I COULD NEVER THANK GOD ENOUGH FOR. IT SAVED MY LIFE PLAIN AND SIMPLE. MY BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTERS ARE THE FIRST THING I THINK ABOUT IN THE MORNING AND THE LAST THING I WORRY ABOUT BEFORE I FALL ASLEEP AT NIGHT. I'M SO BLESSED TO BE ABLE TO BE A MOM AND CELEBRATE MOTHERS DAY. I'M A LUCKY WOMAN! LUCKY TO HAVE BEEN RAISED BY SUCH A WONDERFUL MOTHER, AND LUCKY TO BE TRUSTED WITH THE LIVES OF 2 BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTERS OF GOD!


me and the girls on mothers day


How cute are they! ha i'm a biased mom I'm sure but they make me beam!


Rylee age 2. If you've ever been around Ry you know what a fun little girl she is! She keeps me entertained all day and night! Her vocabulary is crazy and the things she comes up with kill me! She's so annimated that even the simple things she says make me laugh.

Taya is almost 2 months old now. She's our chunky baby! She's starting to smile a lot now and is such a sweet little girl. She's also sleeping one 5-6 hours stretch almost every night! Thats heaven for me! especially sense Ry didn't sleep that much at one time til she was close to one! yay Tay!

just hanging out

Taya hanging out with aunt Amy and uncle Bob

Taya hanging out with her new cousin Braxton. They're only 15 days apart. Its going to be fun having a cousin so close to her. Hopefully she won't always be this much bigger then him ha hence her nick name "CHEEKS"!

Ry just hanging out being RY! the bottom left picture is of her after I found her smearing diaper cream on the TV...good thing Der didn't witness her in the act or there would have been words between the 2, ya don't mess with dereks tv :) but she made me flash back to pictures of me when i was her age and so notty! the top pictures are of her in Jadins hat that she stole from his house! she loves it but i just can't let her leave the house in it! we'll have to buy her a cute girl hat and sneak jadins back to him! and the bottom right pic...well thats just RYLEE!

Rylee hanging out with Daddy! we had our first BBQ it was so yummy but as you can see not really the weather for it! :(

Taya hanging out with Daddy. I love how small she looks by her twin!

and last me and the girls hanging out. It was a fun adventure all 3 of us bathin and the same time. everythings more of an adventure now! Today I played hands up stand up with Rylee til I had a headache, and then for some reason the lolly pop song got in my head. I sang it and then would make the pop sound with my finger and cheeks and Ry got the biggest kick out of it. We danced and sang for so long. Even though its so much work my girls really are so fun!