the past week

weeks when james has school feel so busy. i feel more tired and i feel like there's more to do. we definitely miss having him around for those two nights during the week. lately i've been trying really hard not to let brooklyn have much screen time. it's been going well, but we definitely have more messes on our hands. she loves being creative and doing "arts and crafts" so that makes me happy.

here she is practicing her name.

after story time at the library it was raining like crazy, so we set up a little water color word station and she loved it.

because sunday was the first day of march, i felt like dressing my girls in spring dresses. i'm getting anxious for spring and everything that comes with it.

kendall in brooklyn's first easter dress. she looked darling!

brooklyn had her first time at participating in opening exercises in primary on sunday. she gave the scripture. we practiced for two weeks. she had it memorized and nailed it. james and i were so proud of her. it was surreal watching her do it though. i can't believe she's old enough to be doing that!

so much harder to get a good picture of a three year old than it is an eight month old.

it was our turn to host family home evening with my family. i served hawaiian haystacks and these killer coconut cupcakes my aunt holly sent me the recipe for this past week. they were delicous! maybe it's because they have six sticks of butter in them. yep. six!

cute little cutler!

monday afternoon i got to accompany kayla to her twenty week ultrasound. lucky me! i loved being able to go and watch and ooh and ahh over that cute little boy who's going to join our family this summer! kayla and judd are going to be awesome parents.

tuesady, we woke up to a snow storm. it was beautiful and white outside and brooklyn was so excited! so i promised her that after breakfast, some quick chores, and baths, that she could go out and build a snowman. she's been dying all winter to. 

these pictures are of  the girls fresh out of the shower. yes, they shower together, and they love it. kendall is in the bumbo for now, not sure what we'll do when she won't stay in it.

a three year old in heaven!

i quickly put kendall down for a nap and ran outside to help brooklyn build a snowman and shovel the walks. we built this guy in about four minutes. he's pretty pathetic but brooklyn loved him.

we're supposed to get a little more snow tomorrow, but hopefully it's sunshine and spring after that. and tomorrow night is disney on ice. we bought the tickets in december and brooklyn has been anxiously waiting since. next time, we'll probably tell her the night before. that's a long time to wait for a little girl. she was willing to go to bed tonight because she knows what's happening tomorrow. funny. 

h a p p y  w e d n e s d a y

p.s. i found this candle at target that smells EXACTLY like the capri blue volcano candle from anthropologie. i love it!

8 months + week review

this week, my tiny baby turned eight months old. holy cow she is growing like a weed. she changes every day. this week she had three teeth pop through. nightmare. and it also makes me so sad. once they get those teeth and that gummy smile disappears... they're basically teenagers. seriously makes me sad. kendall is straight faced, but also quick to smile. she is tender hearted but she is tough. she loves her big sister more than anything else and screams when she is not in her sight. she loves to cuddle her mommy while she falls to sleep. which is cute, but also means she is sleeping with us. i can't help it you guys! she has chub everywhere and it pains me to see her become so mobile. she army crawls everywhere and i can see her slimming out right before my eyes. oh this girl is something else. i kiss on her all day and hate being without her.

story time on thursday rocked. it's usually packed with children, but we lucked out and only had a few other kids show up. it was so much easier for brooklyn to sit and pay attention. she learned all about chinese new year and was obsessed the rest of the week. 

kendall even sat for a good five solid minutes and listened to the books.

we lucked out a few hours later and were joined by whit and her kids, chelsea and ellie, and kayla at the park. we loved it! brooklyn has been wanting livi to come to our house and play for weeks! i think they all had fun, and i loved being able to hang out with my sistas!

late friday afternoon, james and i tackled our taxes. it really wasn't bad and it didn't take as long as i thought it would. kendall slept and we kept brooklyn busy with her art kit she got for christmas (thanks nana!). she did this for hours! 

saturday, i made pancakes for breakfast and then james helped me get some major cleaning and organizing done. then i got my bum to the gym and got my best 3 mile time yet. like i've said, i'm not a runner, but dang that felt good. we ran a few errands later in the afternoon, and jeremy and ellie came over to hang out with us. we loved it. james let me go to the adult session of our stake conference while he watched the girls. it was bliss. i wore my favorite boden dress (cause i knew i wouldn't be nursing a baby. i miss dresses!), and took notes through the whole session. definitely a good little break for me! when i got home, james and jeremy went and got us all shakes from nielsen's and our favorite neighbor lee came over to visit for a little bit. it was so good to see him!

we had a lot of time to kill before stake conference (at 2) so we slept in a little, caught up on downton, and ate lunch. we got ready in between all of that headed out the door on time! 

i wanted to get a picture of the girls before we left but brooklyn was hooked on a movie with her daddy. so keni took some with me.

brooklyn was more than happy to pose once we got to the bountiful regional center.

then, during the opening prayer, she zonked out! she stayed asleep for the whole two hours.

kendall also fell asleep for the first forty minutes. 

we were happy parents! it was nice to sit and listen for the first little bit.

then, kendall woke up. james and i took turns taking her out and walking around with her. little dickens. back at home we did some relaxing, a little more organizing, and lots of cereal eating. we were content with a low key evening. i needed it!

we have a lot to look forward to this coming week. we're hoping for some sunny weather so we can have a few park days. james' car is in the shop so we'll be carless tomorrow. i'm hoping that will motivate me to get all my laundry done, folded, AND put away. i can do it!

h a p p y  m o n d a y !