Harper 11 months!

Harps,

You make us so very happy. You seriously are such a joy. Lately you have loved:

• playing peekaboo
• taking baths
• getting into whatever your sister is playing with
• holding and rocking your baby doll

You want so badly to walk, yet you don't... You try so hard, but then when we go to help you, you bend your little legs and just sit! We thought you would be walking a month ago... you'll get there and when you I have a feeling you will be getting into everything. You are so curious. You are an observer. You are usually pretty quiet, but you sure do have some lungs when your sissy is sleeping and you keep squealing to play. You are still very much a daddy's girl, but have been more clingy to mom lately. You have the cutest little sly smile and are still such a happy girl. You pretend to be serious, but boy are you happy. You do not eat solid food very well, but you do love mandarine oranges and peanut butter crackers. You also love to eat Chex cereal. You are still in size 3 diapers and 6-12 or 9 month clothes, although we have been putting you in 12 month clothing too. You are almost a year! We love you so very much.

First hair cut

Sage got her first hair cut the other day. We were up in Paradise and I needed a trim and Jeanne had cover to get her hair trimmed as well, so we asked Sage if she wanted her's cut. She was hesitant and said no initially, but then I told her that her cousin Kaylee had her hair cut and we faced time her to ask if it hurt and she said no. That was all she needed to know. That and the fact that Kaylee got her hair cut, gave Sage the courage to get her own hair trimmed. She sat on my lap and did really well! 

What life is like

I have not been writing much on our family blog. Life really does get busy, but I do want to keep our family history. January has flown by. I usually get the January/winter blues, but this year is off to a good start. This post may be a bunch of rambling, but someday when we look back on it hopefully it will at least be a little glimpse and reminder of what life was like.

We ended and started the year with me having an ectopic pregnancy. I probably went and got my blood drawn at least a dozen times. Finally after my methotrexate shots my levels began to drop and finally are in the negatives where they should be. I have also been busy with my blog Motherhood in the Major Leagues and have done a couple of giveaways. I hosted one for bleach trays/bleach for Dr. Bevan's office and am getting free bleach trays/bleach for myself as well. I also hosted one for Origami Owl that my friend is a consultant for and got a beautiful locket/charms from that giveaway. Power of Moms is one of my favorite sites and is so uplifting to me. They have given me the program Mind Organization for Moms which is a $75 program for free to review and then to do a giveaway. I am really excited about that.

Taylor is our hero. He always works so hard for us. He has been working a ton of overtime. We have made a lot of financial goals for the new year and goals of where we want to be in a year from now and even 5 years from now. He is such a good provider. When he is not working he is home making our lives happy and always doing what he can to lift my burdens. He is also so supportive in everything I do. He is working with his dad to make Sage and Harper twin beds and also is making us a headboard/ footboard for our bed. We sure are lucky and blessed.

Sage is so much fun. She loves baby dolls. Is that a surprise? And she loves to eat snacks. She went through 2 weeks of snacks in just 4 days. She is also so helpful and polite. She is still as feisty as ever, but she is just as sweet as ever also.

Harper is almost walking. And she is almost 1! I can't even believe it. She takes several steps but gets so excited she trips over herself. She is still an angel baby and has become a really good eater. She entertain herself really well and loves to be around her sister. She is still a daddy's girl, but has become more attached to me, which of course I love.

We spend our days staying warm inside and trying to stay busy by playing with play-dough, doing crafts, paying doctor and baby dolls. Our drawers of our entertainment center are emptied several times a day by our sweet curious Harper girl. I also find evidence of her in our bathroom with toilet paper ripped up everywhere. We play lots of peek-a-boo and eat lots of snacks. We plan lots of play dates and try and get together with our friends a few times a week. We also enjoy the library storytimes. Some of our favorite get out of the house places are Chick-fil-a for a sanck and to play in the play place, Discovery Gateway, the indoor play place at City Creek and the indoor dino town place at South Town Mall. We also do lots of play dates with our friends downstairs. Sage is always looking to see if their car is outside to see if they are home.

Life is good.

Goodbye 2013 Hello 2014

New Years Eve has always been one of my favorite holidays. Growing up I always spent it with my best friend Stefanie Albayati. I remember her mom taking us to rent movies and dropping us off at the Souplantation for dinner. I remember going to the mall and getting matching "2000" shirts and "wild" black bellbottom pants. We toilet papered this kid Brian Blocker's house at least 4 years in a row. We would always "take a walk" the next morning just so we could try and catch him cleaning it all up! One year he chased us down the street and made us help clean it up. Aside from tping, New Years has always been refreshing. September was always a fresh start as school started, but by the time December rolled around I was always ready for another fresh start.

Now as an adult I have learned we can always have a fresh start, but there is still something energizing about the new year... Our 2013 was filled with lots of memories and lots of fun.

• Sage girl has her tonsils and adenoids removed 
• we welcomed our Harper Lee into our family in Feb
• celebrated all three of our March birthdays
• Taylor gave Harper a name and a blessing
• Taylor switched work shifts to 4 tens, which gives us 3 day weekends! 
• vacationed in California that included lots of beach time, fun with family and friends and the San Diego Zoo
• went to a Boyce Avenue Concert
• Ran in the Electric Run 5k
• Sage started Joy School and Dance class
• fun trips to Paradise
• lots of Halloween festivities- we dressed up as two sweet cupcakes and proud bakers
• made some new friends and enjoyed fun times with old ones
• celebrated our 4 year anniversary with a weekend away

We ended 2013 with a whole lot of fun celebrating the birth of our Savior and making fun memories together as a family. However, we also ended and have begun this new year with an ectopic pregnancy. We were both sad, but more than anything very grateful for my doctor who has been so diligent in following up with what was at first thought to be a miscarriage. I got an injection of methotrexate which is a type of chemo to stop the growth. Thankfully it is working and my levels have dropped significantly and I am at the end of this awful and long process. We have felt very blessed through it all though. 2013 was good to us and we look forward to what 2014 has to bring!

4 year Anniversary

We celebrated our 4 year anniversary this past weekend and it was so much fun. We are so grateful for our friends the Averyts who watched our girls for us. The girls love them and they love our girls. Saturday afternoon we left for a late lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings, which is one of our favorite places. We then checked into our hotel. We stayed at the Little America downtown. Funny story- we couldn't open our door to our room at first. Finally figured it out. We relaxed a bit until we went and saw Catching Fire, but not before we got locked in our room. We had to call the front desk and they sent someone up. Our doors lock got stuck! Afterwards the movie, we went to City Creek and were going to get dessert and The Cheesecake Factory, but there was an hour wait. We were going to get some cake to go, but then decided to go get shakes at Jonny Rockets instead, which was a great decision. Their shakes are the best. Sunday morning we slept in until almost 10am and went and had brunch. Little America truly has the best breakfast buffet. It was so nice to take our time and be able to sit and talk and not have to worry about the kids. We had a half hour or so until we had to check and didn't want to check out a minute before we had to, so we watched an episode of The Office on the ipad and had a good laugh before heading back to reality. A reality we love of course, but it was so nice to just be the two of us and spend some much needed relaxing time together. Our girls were happy to see us. Harper couldn't stop smiling.

4 years has gone by so fast. I can't imagine life without Taylor. He would agree that we are perfect for each other. We make a good team. Life is good.