Family Photos

Today the girls and I wore matching outfits to church. Then tonight we were going to my parents for dinner. So I decided to bring my camera and have my mom take some family photos. These are our first family pictures with Maddi! We took these on the trail behind their home in South Jordan.

First Day of Preschool

On Friday, Audrey got to go to her first day of preschool. She was so excited! I can't believe she is old enough for this. I know she is going to learn a lot and be a big helper for the teacher.


Daddy dropped her off and she was fine. But when he left she started crying, for about 10 minutes. Then she was fine and happy the rest of the time. She is going to love going to preschool!

Rub a Dub Dub, Three Girls in the Tub

Maddi 's first experience in the big bath tub. Kimee held her so she wouldn't fall over. Definitely more fun for her sisters than for her. She was a good sport and always loves being around her big sisters. Before you know it, she will be splashing up a storm in that tub!

Oatmeal, yum!

Today Maddi got to try oatmeal for the first time. She is loving this food thing! She likes to get her hands covered in cereal and then suck on her fingers. Yummy!

1st Day of School

We took pictures before heading out the door on the first day of school. Audrey wanted her picture taken too. It was funny because she didn't want us to leave, but once she got her picture taken, she was fine.

After a few busy days of meetings and getting ready, the first day of school was here. It was tough for both Kimee and me in different ways.

For me it was crazy busy. Not a minute to spare, just going, going, going. Being at a new school, I did not know exactly what to expect from the kids, the routines like recess, lunch, etc. It was crazy. The second day was definitely better. But I have decided that I probably should change back up to 2nd or 3rd grade when I have a chance. The beginning of the year is really hard with these young ones.

Kimee had a hard time and cried several times throughout the day because she wanted her mommy. So sad. It doesn't help that she woke up too early that morning, so she was going on not enough sleep. She has a great teacher and is starting to make some new friends. It is hard being at a new school and also going from being home all summer to a full day at school. Kimee had a much better day on the 2nd day.

Hopefully things will keep improving for both of us. And it is so nice to get one on one time together before and after school. We love going to the same school!

Maddilyn: 4 Months

Maddilyn is four months old!
She is 18 lbs (99%tile) and 27 inches long (99%tile).
What a big girl!
Maddi is growing so fast and I am trying to enjoy every moment.
(I really don't want her to grow up.)
She is rolling over, grabbing things, and pulling our hair.
This morning she grabbed Kimee's earring and actually pulled it out (it didn't hurt).
We love Maddilyn! She is so much fun!

I didn't take Maddi's pictures on her actual 4 month birthday because she was cranky from getting shots that morning and she was also congested and had a goopy eye. So I thought I would take the pictures on another day when she was more herself. Well, a week rolls by and I realize that if I don't take these pictures soon, she will be 5 months old before I know it! So, early one morning I hurried and took these before going to work. She is officially 4 months and 6 days old in the pictures.

~sisters~

Kimee and Audrey love their sister Maddilyn.
They are always wanting to hold her and spend time with her.
Maddilyn loves them too, for the most part.
She loves watching them play and dance.
She loves listening to them when they talk, read, and sing.

Last Weekend Part 2

For the second half of our weekend fun, I planned something mostly for me. I have been wanting to go shopping in Park City for so long, but haven't for one reason or another. So, on Saturday, we took a trip up to Park City. I tried to make it fun for the kids too (Kimee HATES shopping). We stopped at the "Home of the Train" fast food place in Heber on the way up. The girls love the trains there and they even got a train whistle in their kids meal. When we got to the Outlet stores, the morning rain was gone so the girls could play on the little park there. We enjoyed PERFECT sunshiny 70 degree weather for the rest of the day. It was worth the trip just for that. It was SO NICE! Then, my parents met us and we checked into the Best Western. Grandma and Grandpa went swimming and played games with Kimee and Audrey, while Dave, Maddi and I went back for more shopping. THAT was SO nice. To shop without kids. WOW. I was lovin' life. We went out to dinner all together, and then went off for a little more shopping. We got back to the hotel in time to get Audrey and Maddi to sleep (Daddy took Kimee swimming one more time.) Thanks Mom and Dad for babysitting and being so much fun for my kids. I can't believe how much I enjoyed just a short trip to Park City, I really needed it!
(Sorry, no pictures, I forgot my camera.)

Last weekend of summer fun

We had to do some extra fun stuff this weekend since it is the last weekend before school starts. So we spent a day at Liberty Land with our friends the Sinemas. We had lots of fun. This time we did the rock wall climbing and laser tag, which was Kimee's favorite. My favorite was a mini rocket ride (no picture) that takes you up high and drops down, although quite slowly. Kimee screamed in fear at the beginning and the end of the ride. Audrey loved it and wanted to go again, but her favorite is still the carousel. Last time we went, I kept Maddi and Dave went on the rides. So this time we switched and I got to go on rides. Thanks, honey!

Home grown is the best!

Earlier this year, I put on a picture of our garden just after we planted it. I committed to doing better this year than I did last. And I have done so. It's far from perfect, and we had several things that didn't take off, but overall it has been a success. Tonight for dinner we had freshly picked corn, zucchini, and tomatoes from our garden. Yum! And Audrey actually ate corn on the cob!! (She has never liked corn before. Granted, it was with a lot of salt. She really liked licking the salt and butter off the corn.)

I took this picture about a month ago.

Kimee helped pick the corn with me, and later went out to shuck it with Dave. She got mad because he shucked more cobs than her. So next time she wants to do it all by herself. I thought this worthy of putting in writing. She is such a good helper and can be a hard worker when she chooses.

Baby food, here we come!

Maddi is now four months old and we are starting her on baby cereal. She is getting so big!

She's not quite sure if she likes it.

Big sisters get to take a turn.

fun times

The girls have been having so much fun with their Aunt Jill and cousin Jeremy. Here is one example of that. . .
I am so happy that Jill is able and willing to watch my girls while I am teaching school.

more tubes

Audrey has been having fluid in her ears and ear infections ever since her previous set of tubes came out earlier this year. We kind of waited to see if summer would be better, but it hasn't been. Poor girl. So we went in to the hospital to have more tubes put in. I brought my camera so that I could take a picture of her in her surgery outfit to post on the blog, show Kimee, and be a remembrance for Audrey (although I don't know that she will want to remember this experience). Well, she told me just before going in that she was going to be shy. Oh, no. After we went back to get ready and all the strangers started coming in to talk to me, she started getting all clingy. She did not want to take off her favorite pink dress to put on the (ugly) hospital gown. I put on one of the slipper footsie things, and she immediately wanted it off. I tried to get her to cooperate for 5-10 minutes with no luck. Finally her doctor came in and said she could just wear her dress. She wouldn't even put on the puffy surgery hat. They grabbed her and carried her back to the surgical area. I was sad I couldn't get a cute picture of her in all that garb. This is what I got. . .After the tubes were put in and she came to, they brought her screaming "I want my mommy" back to me. She kicked and screamed when any of the strangers (nurses) came into the recovery room. The cutest thing was when she told me that her ears hurt and she wanted kisses. I gave them several kisses and that seemed to help. But then she said she need a bandaid. I felt so bad for her because they were really hurting/ bothering her.

But that is not all. She just would not conform to hospital regulations. The nurse tried to get her temperature, pulse, blood pressure or whatever several times in order to discharge her. No luck. So she finally told me it wasn't that important and that we could leave. What a fun experience! Actually, it was quite funny. I think I was sore the next day from holding a kicking, 43 pound child for so long. When we got home and I asked her what happened, she said a mean man (the anesthesiologist) put something over her mouth (the gas) and she was crying and kicking.

On a side note, the doctor said her right ear drum was about to burst. And she has been sleeping soundly all through the night ever since. Thank goodness for tubes, but let's just hope we don't have to do this again.

Beautiful Temple

At the end of July, we went up to see the new Oquirrh Mountain Temple with Jill, Duane, and Jeremy. It was nice to be able to walk through the open house with them. What a beautiful temple!




At the Draper Temple open house I was sad that I didn't get a picture of my family in front of the temple. This time I was really trying to remember to get a family picture, but again it didn't happen. By the time we were done walking through, the kids were so tired and anxious to leave. Luckily, I took these pictures at the beginning so I have something to post!

One Really Fun Day, Two Really Cute Birthday Girls

We celebrated Kimee's 6th and Audrey's 3rd birthday just over 2 weeks ago and I am finally going to get this post done! We started the festivities actually the day before when Grandma and Grandpa K. took them to Build-a-Bear Workshop. It was so much fun. Kimee got a monkey, Liberty, and Audrey got a pink unicorn, Starlight. They each picked an outfit for their new friend from Grandma P. We then met daddy for lunch and all got pizza in the food court at the mall. Then the girls and I headed home to play and play and play with the new additions to the BABW collection.

On their big day, we had a "Fun in the Sun" party. Lots of kids and lots of water. Crafts, snow cones, snacks, games, and swimming. Fun. Fun. Fun.

































































After the kid party, we had a small family BBQ as a thank you to those awesome cousins who helped at the party. It was a celebration of two wonderful girls that have brought so much happiness to each of our lives.