miscellaneous goodness

handsome man before bed time
one of my favorite christmas gifts...

christmas morning delight. boy, were they spoiled. did i mention
they have 5 sets of grandparents total?


this is what happens when you drop an evo on the garage floor.

we are so white.

hi 2011

hope everyone had a very merry christmas and happy new year! i am still loving our christmas card.

whoa, i've been a bad blogger. but most people who read this probably see me/text me enough to know all of these things anyway...

in any case, its 2011, and i am going to be doing things a little different this year. like blog more. i am about to have my 3rd baby in under 4 years (whoa), and i really want to look back on this time in my life and remember how crazy i was. i want to remember all the funny moments, long days, good days, bad bad and fun times while my kids were teeny tiny. i don't want to forget while trying to survive this time in my life.

actually, i have been very fortunate to have 2 babies that treat me well. i hope june does the same, but i kind of think they are already conspiring against me. we shall see. but here's the run down of the last 2 months, and some highlights of 2010. be patient, i promise there will be a few pictures at the end!

-Grey turns ONE!
-Lyla is potty trained!
-We moved twice. Once to saratoga springs (and hated it), and now in Sandy we love life.
-In July found out we were expecting our THIRD baby, and in September found out it was a girl! We promptly gave her the name June Elise Sylvia.
-Nate and I celebrate 5 YEARS of marriage, and we had a blast playing golf and seeing a movie.
-Lyla turns 3! We celebrate with a sweet pool party!
-Nate moves to the Premium Seating division at REAL Salt Lake.
-Lyla started preschool one day a week, and she has loved every minute of it.
-Grey learns to talk, and then talk some more, and now yells and tells jokes.
-Lacy turned 25 in July. Old bag.
-Nathan, to his dismay, turned 27 in December.
nate is 27! cake and the pie pizza!
lyla in front of a large christmas tree--grey was not into it

my silly kids, and us! out to see lights at temple square!
random but lyla is extremely flexible. extremely.

we had a great christmas and new year's that was spent with family, and thanks to my amazing sister larissa, nate and i were able to enjoy some adult time with our immediate family.

andy, ashley, dallin and claire came to visit for christmas!

santa comes to RSL!


for lyla, this year was all about princesses, toy story, and pretend. her favorite gift was a jessie doll and play kitchen. grey is also in love with trucks, cars, and toy story. he sure loved his buzz light year, and also loves cooking in his new kitchen with big sis. his favorite gift has to be his cozy coupe, which we can't wait to get outside this spring! i wish i had taken more actual photos, but we have LOTS of video of christmas morning. that day we also went to the little america hotel in salt lake and had the most DELICIOUS brunch. it was our second year, and i think its become a definite tradition.

now on to 2011. time has creeped right past me and we are now in the countdown to meeting baby june. i am almost 9 weeks from my due date, though i sure i hope i see her in 8. i feel great, though large, and am busy nesting and making lists for her arrival. did i mention i am going to a midwife and trying to use more natural childbirth methods this time? i am reading a lot, and will post about it later, but i am actually excited to try it...crazy right?

one of my resolutions this year is to blog more, which i hope i can keep up on. this means getting the camera out more, which is kind of hard sometimes...nate and i are also vowing to be excellent money managers, and have already set up some new savings accounts to ensure we make the most of our money this year. i have also promised to keep a "house schedule" for grocery shopping, cleaning, laundry and managing everything once i have june. this includes cooking! we do eat at home more than in the past, but i want to be even better at it, try new recipes, and be more healthy in general. here's to a great year!

halloween happenings

halloween, celebrated on saturday this year, was a magical event. i think i love that most about having young kids...everything seems amazing and magical to them, and it truly makes me happy.

friday night we decorated pumpkins. i didn't get any pictures of grey because he was SO excited i had a hard time keeping him still enough to do stickers. since the kids are a bit young for carving, we went with painting and sticker decor, and it was a HIT. grey also kept picking up his pumpkin pail and kissing it saying "love you punkin, love you punkin." he's a hoot.

saturday morning we were at the zoo early, and went trick or treating in costume. lyla was a pretty princess, grey a shark, and nate and i REAL salt lake fans. the zoo was the highlight of the day, and we enjoyed brunch with friends afterward.

saturday night we went to the in-laws and trick or treated for about 20 minutes. it was windy, cold, and rainy, but the kids still got their fill. oh, and i went as an 8 ball that evening. ha.


happy halloween everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hey june!

this is for lauren, larissa, lynnae, libbie and blake. cute aunts and uncles who aren't here to see the pictures in person. enjoy!!

baby looks so great...its amazing to me how they move and wiggle when they are so tiny. seriously crazy. we can't wait until march!

things are moving quickly...

a fast update before i disappear from blogging for a bit:

-we move in precisely 2 weeks. crazy, i know. but nate will be 5 minutes (or less!) from work, its convenient to lyla's preschool, and super nice. can't wait to be back in sandy.

-we find out the gender of this baby on the 27th. so excited that my mom will be here, and we have names picked out! i will divulge when we know the sex. for the record, lyla hopes for a girl, but nate and i couldn't care less either way.

-i am 14 weeks, almost 15, and feel great! starting to get fatter, its crazy to me how much bigger i feel at this point in my pregnancy compared to lyla and grey. no weight gain yet though..

-i am also switching doctors and going to a mid wife. she can deliver at the hospital i want, and i am excited about trying to do childbirth naturally. i just need to convince nate a bit more. ha.

-nate and i found out that we will be attending the mls cup in toronto this november. very excited about this development...but getting a passport is kind of a pain. especially when you were born in california, live in utah, and can't find your birth certificate. sheesh.

-speaking of the mls...nate is still doing great at real, and we are already excited about next season. and of course, we love real and hope they go to the cup too so we can be obnoxious at the game.

-lyla absolutely loves preschool, and it appears that her teacher loves having her in class. i wish it were more than once a week, so we are looking into a great dance program for her this fall and winter.

-grey is trouble, and i bought him a leash yesterday. i have always made fun of parents who have those, but seriously, the kid wants to walk but also not listen to me nor stay near me. so he gets a leash attached to a puppy backpack. i hope it works!

-i purchased halloween costumes for the kids this week. lyla will be a pink princess that lights up (for real, the dress lights up) and grey will be a shark. i had to snag them while the stores still had a good selection. happy fall everyone! more to come.

family pictures 2010

Mr. Grey at about 18 months!
-25 lb. 8 oz. and 32 inches tall

Miss Lyla at 3. Poor lady...it was over 100 degrees when we took these pictures, and i don't blame her for not smiling. she's a doll anyway.
-34 lb. and 39 inches tall!
these kids are so goofy...couldn't understand why i was making those faces at them.

i especially love the family picture...too bad we have to update it in 6 months...ha ha! i got it made on a canvas for my house. so excited.

summer wrap up

since i have posted twice all summer, i thought i would wrap it up with labor day weekend, and include our mishaps as of late.

-we spent saturday night at the real game. i was treated to club seats with my little lady, and we had fun. it was hot, much hotter than expected, but seeing our team win is always a bonus.

-labor day was exhausting. we went for an early morning drive, and ended up with a flat tire in salt lake. nate knew his tires were bad, and we were actually going to get the front tires replaced today. unfortunately, we made it to the neighborhood we were in search for, and the tire had totally blown out. nate tried to get the tire off, but mazdas are notorious for being difficult. after 4 hours, a tow truck, lunch at dee's, and $375 later...we have two brand new tires. note to self: don't get a flat tire on labor day. people and businesses are usually not around to help you. ha ha.

-did i mention this is not the only catastrophe as of late? a few weeks ago, i lost nate's car keys at smith's. we didn't have a spare set, and our car is EXPENSIVE to re key. our car sat for a week while we waited to see if they turned up and worked out insurance...right before we finally got the new keys, we found out someone had in fact found our keys! however, they decided throwing them away was a good idea...thanks people. thanks.

-and on sunday, we went to baby sam foster's baby blessing. we had a pretty good morning, but my kids were tired, and when we got home we realized the house key was on nate's set of keys (we hadn't replaced the lost one yet), and it was inside the house. awesome. calling a locksmith on a sunday is neither convenient nor cheap.

pretty crazy, right?

the highlight of the weekend was hanging out with family and friends at a labor day barbecue. andy and ashley are moving away this week...and i know we will miss them a lot. our babies are so close, and nate has always been especially close to his brother. we of course wish them well, and are so excited for them. good luck guys! we will be out soon!