Discovery Gateway...now that's what I call fun!

Well Tuesday Patrice and I took the kids to "Discovery Gateway!" We went on Tuesday not realizing that it is $2.00 off Tuesday so it was somwhat of a mad house at first but who are we kidding it was a blast. I think that Lydia will appreciate it a little more when she is closer to Bode's age but she seemed to still have fun, and would not let me hold her to save her life. Overall it was so much fun, so thanks so much guys for a fun filled SUNNY day! Liddy at the water station...she loved slashing around even though she kept trying to put her hands in her mouth after and the chlorine smell was pretty strong so we didn't stay there long (ha ha ha!)

Bode had so much fun adding food to his cart and checking out at the register! He is so stinkin cute...and I loved his new easter basketball outfit!

I put Lydia on the car to try to keep her off of the floor but we found somthing that worked even better... Lydia can't walk on her own yet but she can sure walk while pushing. Lydia and Raini were so funny Lydia would push her until they ran into something, I would move them and then it was off again!
Look out for the fire truck girlies! Bode is such a little stud, he is such a good kid he listens to Patrice and is very considerate of his sister and cousin Liddy!
They all loved the ball station, they would load the balls and then put them in the vaccum it was pretty cute!
The easter bunny made a guest appearance...Lydia actually loved "IT" even though I'll be honest look at that thing, I would be scared if I didn't know better (ha ha ha!)

Cute Raini hanging out with Mom!
The gear board, I thought it was such a fun idea and of course one day when I create my perfect playroom I want one of those!

You know you had a fun filled day when it ends like this...I love you Liddy-bug and have so much fun watching your grow and play!

One year older and wiser too...Happy Birthday to you!

My cute sister-in-law's birthday was on March 24th and of course I forgot my camera at her party. But I am so greatful to have Lindsey as a s-i-l. She is definitely a great example to me in so many ways (if you didn't know she is one heck of a cook, I need to take lessons) and is sort of like the "little sister" that I never had and always wanted. I love hearing all about Lindsey's teaching adventures, since my days are over I have to live vicariously through her. Anyways happy late B-day Linds (I'm not going to lie I don't know what I would do without ya, especially on Halo nights!)
April 8th was my Father-in-Law Wayne's "29th" birthday...and I swear he doesn't seem to be aging. I am so lucky to have married in to such an amazing family with such an amazing patriarch. Wayne has been such a great help in so many ways. I don't think we tell him enough how much we appreciate all that he does for our family. We are celebrating his B-day on saturday so hopefully I will have some updated pics then.

Last but not least my little bro Derek (or as most know him as BEAR!) I can not express how much I love my little brother, he is one of my best friends and I am one of his biggest fans whether he knows it or not. He is an exceptional writer, sometimes I feel like I'm glad I knew him before he was famous because I swear it is only a matter of time. He is the most sincere and kind hearted person I know. He would do anything for anyone and he would do it with a smile. I have had so many good times together...here are a few!

1.The hair gel fight (me spraying hair gel in your eyes and you spitting in my suit case as I was packing for N.Y.)

2. Playing Ninja turtles you were Rapheal turtle and I was always April.

3. Making you and Tyler do the "Nutcracker" we convinced Tyler that the rat king was the coolest part (ha ha ha!)

4. Every short day we would somehow make Tyler cry and he would lock himself in the bathroom.

5. "Dad he's circling everything!"

6. You getting really into sea life after visiting Sea world...you created a sea exhibit in your room and bore your testimony at church about saving the whales.

7. Watching Aladdin and Tommy boy every night for years on that old gray TV in your room.

8. Bleaching your hair right before you started high school.

9. Our adventures in London...the London undergrounds where you were freaking out because it was so hot and then they added insult to injury by having a flame thrower...the only saving grace was the 500 pund german stuck on the stool at the end of the tour.

10. Making fun of Tyler...we are always pretty good at that (Ty you know we love ya, but you are the baby and therefor always had it the easiest so that what older siblings are for!)

Baby Ballerina!

Well I wanted to get some (almost) 1 yr old shots of Lydia so I borrowed my Dad's camera, made her a tutu and it was down to the studio for a mini photo shoot. I think that the pics turned out pretty cute, even though I couldn't get her to smile for the life of me and she was not loving the tutu. I had a blast and hopefully when the weather get's better and we get some pretty flowers I can get some outdoor shots of her in her easter dress. This one was actually taken in her nursery.
So serious

I love the look on her face

is it time for class yet?

One of the few time she would actually crawl in the tutu...it was pretty funny to see her try every time her hand would touch the tutu she would get really mad.

Motivated by candy...aren't we all!

My little ballerina

I think this shot is precious

Not looking too happy!

11 months of pure Heaven!

Big surprise "I can't believe how fast time is flying!" I know, I know I say it every month but seriously where did March go? So Lydia is now 11 months old and doing and saying so many fun things. She is extremely mobile which is great in some ways and chellenging in others. It makes things like showering and going to the bathroom a little more awkward when she is either trying to open the door or pounding on it (I can now shower in record time!) Anyways here are a few of the new things that Lydia is doing lately.
-When you tell her "No, no" she will shake her head no! There is a vase in our entry way that every time she heads towards it I say "no, no" so now as she is crawling towards she just shakes her head and then turns around and giggles, like "I know what you are going to say!"
-She crawls, stands, sits, and our favorite scales over any obstacle in her way!
-She says, Mama, Dada, Uh Oh, Thank-you, uuuff uuuuff (woof woof), Hi, yuck (which sounds like buck, (now mind you none of these are perfect and some are sound inflections but you can tell when she is trying to say.
-She has two new top front teeth
-She will wave bye-bye
-She loves pickles, rice, baby carrots, and honey bunches of oats.
-She dances every time she hears music, it doesn't matter where she is or what she is doing she will stop and rock a beat to any music (i.e. commercials, cell phone ringers, elevator music you name it)
-She loves to play with other kids. Monday's my babysitter doesn't get here until about 3:10 and so I have Lydia with me while I'm teaching a 2-4 year old class and she loves watching the girls dance, she claps and giggles and tries to push the buttons on the stero it's pretty sweet.
-She claps for Che' whenever we play fetch and he brings the ball back.
-She loves to throw things and has somewhat of a destructive personality when it comes to playing with toys (I attribute that to Chris, we always tease him that he is like a bull in a china shop)
-She LOVES her Daddy, she is obsessed with Chris. If he comes in a room she will not take her eyes off of him until he picks her up and gives her the attention she wants.
-She loves to talk on the cell phone, and her calls are all to "Dada" she will open and close the cell phone for hours and have funny baby talk conversations to dada, but when we call Grandpa on the speaker phone she just get's scared and tries to turn it off.

Helping mom make cookies, by not helping mom make cookies (ha ha ha!)
There is a light on my camera that shines on you face to help with red eye and as soon as the light would turn on Lydia would look at that and not the camera!

Lydia is getting so big, she is a little girl now and not a baby. It is so hard to see her grow up but so fun to see everything that she is learning.

She always has to have something in her hands, and this was the only picture I could get where Lydia hadn't thrown the bunny as far away as possible. The cell phone is way cooler I guess.

She is growing up so fast.

Yeah for Lydia turning 11 months!

The living planet Aquarium!

Well it was Friday and so we were off on another adventure with the girls. We took them to the "Living Planet Aquarium" which was very cool. I know that this place is probably old news for everyone but I thought it was so much fun. Once you get past the initial aquarium smell, and the somewhat white trash people that seemed to be flocking the day we were there it was so much fun. For a $16.00 annual pass who could beat it. Lydia and Deni had a blast seeing the fish moving around the aquariums and splashing in the water. I have to admitt the teacher in me was totally coming out because all I could think is I want to come back when Lydia isn't so all over the place so I can actually read about it. Anyways thanks Marie and Deni for playing with us, and we look forward to next Friday's adventures. The girls getting ready for the "Living Planet aquarium!"

Aren't they so stinkin cute.
Deni reaching for the sting rays

Lydia was soked by the end, needless to say I sanitized her entire body right after (ha ha ha!)

Those sting rays scared the crap out of me, I would put my hand in to touch them and as soon as it got close I would scream like a school girl (it was pretty embarassing!)

Deni not sure about that crab!

Lydia off on an adventure of her own through the caves!

It was cool there were little aquariums inside the cave that Lydia was looking at.

After the aquarium we met Justin and Lindsey at Iggy's to watch the Utah basketball game. I'm not going to lie it was so funny to see Lydia loving this pickle. She basically demolished it.

Justin and Lindsey

It's a good thing that Lindsey was there, I didn't even know a basketball game was on (ha ha ha!)

I feel like I have so few pics of us all togther, and then when I see myself in pics I guess I know why (ha ha ha!)

Just what I needed!

Well the past couple of days have been pretty rough. Lydia has been teething and the poor thing is in so much pain. Anything she can rub her gums on she does, and it seems like she can get no relief. Anyways as a stay at home mom there are some days when you just need a break, and Saturday was one of them. Chris my amazing husband came home after working 6 long days, and he watched Lydia so I could go to the Alta Dance concert and to dinner with my mom. Not only did he watch her for me I came home and found this message in the bathroom...

It was either Chris or Lydia is really good at writing!

Lydia will put anything on those gums she can find...a toothbrush has become her new favorite!

Gymboree play and music!

Well Marie and I have been trying to get out of the house and do something fun with the girls every Friday. Last week we took them to the "Kids safety fair" at the expo center, it was free and just fun to get out. While we were there, there was a booth for Gymboree play and music. Marie has Deni signed up for classes right now and I got a coupon for a free preview class. So Friday we took the girls to a music class. Needless to say Lydia LOVED it. She had so much fun with all the instruments and socializing with all the kids. I will say that she didn't want to stay by my side at all, which may be a sign of things to come. But all in all it was a lot of fun. Thanks Marie and Deni for inviting us!

Lydia with the bell, she was loving shaking those things! Deni had just woken up from her nap, and was a little leary at first but after a couple of minutes she got right in on the fun!


Lydia banging on her drum...we have a homemade drum at home that she plays and loves as well!

Ball time was so much fun the kids/parents passed the balls around the circle. Lydia was crawling all over to see the other kids and of course touch them!

Scarves were used to play peek-a-boo, but all Lydia wanted to do was DESTROY!

Then the end was my favorite BUBBLE time. They had the coolest bubbles that lasted forever I'll be honest I bought some because I had so much fun with them (ha ha ha!)

She was too mesmorized by the bubbles to look at the camera!
I felt like I was in the movie Labrynth!

Cute Deni enjoying the bubbles!

OOOHHHH I love that little girl, even just looking at this post I want to go wake her up from her nap and give her the biggest bear hug...but I won't because I have too many other things to do!

TOYS...and teeth!

Yeah for Lydia!

Peeking out of the tunnel!

There is a tunnel and a slide for the balls, it is a pretty cool toy!

My Liddy bug in heaven!

(Lydia peeking out of the hole, she also puts the ball out through there and laughs!)
So we hung out with our friends Katie and Bry Gibby last week and they had this awesome little blow-up ball pit. It was so funny because Lydia absolutely loved it. We got worried a couple of times because she was so content and if you know Lydia she is a very high matainance (sp) child. So I had a gift card to AMAZON and had to get it. It came in the mail on Wednesday and let's just say I haven't gotten any of her other toys out since, she is in heaven. It is the cutest thing she will crawl, and stand and bounce to her hearts content. She has even learned how to put the balls out of the hole so they go down a slide and back into the bounce house. I'm convinced that there is nothing better then seeing your child learn and grow right before your eyes. I swear just when I think she can't get any cuter she does just that! Anyways I got some video but our stupid computer is so old it dosen't have enough memory to hold the software that allows us to download it, so one day!

Also in chomper news two more teeth have officially made their appearance! Her two top front teeth are peeking out and I can't wait!
P.S. Don't mind that she is in flood pajamas, I need to get her some new one's and just haven't had time!