San Diego 2015

Two weeks ago, Kevin and I decided to visit my parents very last minute. We decided around 11 pm Saturday night to leave Monday morning. My Dad had some time off and it seemed like the perfect time to visit. 

The girls were pretty good on the 12 hour drive. Lots of stops, but they were fairly well behaved. We only stayed for 5 days, but we packed a lot in. 

We were able to go swimming at the pool, visit the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park, visit the Children's Discovery Museum, hang out at the beach, take a habor cruise, have dinner with Kevin's old mission buddy, visit Kevin's cousin and get in lots of grandma and grandpa time. 

And now for the pictures:

The Zoo (I didn't take any pics at the Safari Park, oops.)

My parents took the girls after the Zoo and Kevin and I went on a date. We went on a cruise of the San Diego Harbor and then went to dinner at Miguel's in Old Town. The food was amazing by the way! 

Eight helicopters flying over head. 

USS Midway

The San Diego Children's Discovery Museum. The girls had a great time. 

The beach near Carlsbad. 

And some cute moments from the week. 

Mother's Day 2015

I think I love Mother's Day more and more each year. Eleanor was really excited to celebrate this year. I think because Kevin took her shopping for me and they picked out a giant bag of Sour Patch Watermelons. She is excited for me to share.

Kevin prepared a delicious breakfast of biscuits and gravy and hash browns. His hash browns are amazing, by the way. While he was preparing I got to take a relaxing bath and read a book. Church was a bit crazy since it was only my second Sunday as Primary President (the leader over all the children ages 18 months - 11 years old - so in our Ward that is about 170 kids). I had to teach Sharing Time for the first time in my life, and I think it went ok. For the third hour of church the men and young men took over Primary so all the women could all enjoy Relief Society and yummy Paradise Bakery cookies.

I prepped most of dinner the day before so Kevin would have it easy. Homemade lasagna, garlic bread and Cesar salad. Then Angel Food cake cupcakes with whipped cream and strawberries for dessert.

I feel so blessed to have a mother who is the perfect mother for me. She is the perfect balance of mother and friend and I know that I am so lucky to have her. Becoming a mother has been the hardest thing I have ever done, but certainly the most rewarding. I may get a bit overwhelmed by them at times, but I seriously miss them even being gone for an hour. They are my everything.

Eleanor's First Modeling Gig

It is no surprise that Eleanor LOVES to play dress up. The number of wardrobe changes she makes daily drives me a little crazy. I purchased dresses all through the year last year as her big Christmas present. My favorite by far was the Anna replica dress that I bought from littledressupshop.com which is actually local to Eagle Mountain, but mostly sells online. I started following them on Facebook to be notified of their deals and things because I honestly love the quality of their dresses for the price. 

A couple months ago they were looking for toddler models, so I sent in Eleanor's info and they asked her to come in and model some dresses. To say she was in heaven would be an understatement! She did have some awkward smiles, but overall I think she did well. They ended up using some of the pictures on their website, which I was pretty excited about. She was compensated with a free dress, and she chose Rapunzel, mostly because that is one of the only ones she doesn't have. 

Here are some of the pics they sent me and screenshots of her on the website.

I have in no way been compensated for this post. I seriously just love their dresses. 

Payson Temple Open House

Yesterday we had the opportunity to tour the Payson Utah LDS Temple. If we were still living in Spanish Fork it would be our temple, so we were really interested in seeing it finally completed, even though it is no longer our assigned temple. I waited to tell Eleanor until the night before because I knew she would be asking when it was time to go see the temple every hour. I love how excited she gets about the temple. Scarlett even nodded enthusiastically every time we asked her if she wanted to see the temple.

The weather wasn't perfect, there was a bit of rain on and off, but we were luck enough to get some cute pics. Well, cute enough with all the wind and two little girls who never look at the camera at the same time. Ha ha.

The inside of the Payson temple is absolutely stunning. Scarlett would exclaim "Pretty!" when we entered each room and Eleanor wanted to touch everything. She especially loved the really soft carpet. The murals surrounding the Baptismal Font were my favorite.

We are so blessed to be within driving distance to so many temples. I am so grateful that we were able to take our girls inside and share what a special place it is.

Valentine's Day 2015

I love spending Valentine's Day together as a family. It being a Saturday this year made it so much better! We slept in a bit then headed to Jim's Family Restuarant for brunch.

We also stopped at DI to buy a CD player  for the girls' room. We scored a great one for $15! 

For dinner we made homemade heart shaped pizzas. Eleanor loves to help of course. I have a crust recipe that we love, so we have been making pizzas a lot. 

As far as gifts, Kevin got me some gorgeous roses, a beautiful necklace and a foam massage roller. 

I stocked Kevin's mini fridge with his favorite sodas and some of his favorite treats. I also made him a set of cards with a year of preplanned dates (24 total: 12 in and 12 out). I think he liked it. I know I am excited to get out of our dating rut!

It was so much fun to spend time together and make some fun memories!  

Scarlett 18 Months

Scarlett turned 18 months last month and I feel like I should record what life is like with this cute little one at this stage.

Height: 29 in (1%)
Weight: 19 lbs (8%)
Head: 46 cm (43%)

She is such a talker! For my sake, here is the list of words she currently says:

Mommy, Daddy, Ellie, baby, Here go, cookie, milk, cheese, fishy (Goldfish crackers), roll, nana (banana), more, bye bye, no, yes, doggy, Minnie, Mickey, Daisy, Ana, Elsa, Let it Go, princess, necklace, pretty, me, mine, monkey, Hi, night night, thank you, outside, shoe, rub rub, teeth, nose, mouth, eyes, sorry, tickle, and binky.

There are probably some that I am missing.

Other interesting milestones and tidbits:

- Started walking at 14.5 months. The day after Christmas is when she really started to get the hang of it. She is running and climbing all over the place now.

- Loves all things Frozen, but Ana is her favorite.

- Eats fairly well and her favorite foods right now are watermelon, frozen peas, pizza and spaghetti (she insists on having sauce on it, so much messier for me, but good for her).

- Copies everything that Eleanor does and can hold her own during their fights.

- Still usually naps twice a day for 1.5 -2 hours each.

- Currently  has 8 teeth in completely, with at least two more that have pushed through the gums.

- Loves to play with baby dolls and just started to like to play dress up with Eleanor.

- Very much a Mommy's girl, does not like strangers.

- Wears mostly 9 months clothes now, some 12 months.