Five Day Weekend

Marty's mom, Terri, came into town on the 7th and left the 13th. Marty had a five day weekend. It was great. It went by really fast though. Isn't that how it always goes when you're busy and having fun? We met him for lunch on Friday when he had to work. We had Five Guys. Amazing!!! I love that place. If it wouldn't bankrupt me or kill me before I turn 30 I would eat it everyday.

We basically hung out, played with the kids, and watched movies. We also went to the Zoo on Monday. We had a lot of fun. I don't mean to brag, but I took some pretty awesome pictures. Enjoy!

Izebelle is getting so big. Compare the above picture to the picture below taken 7 months earlier.

I love this face.

Waving to dad

If you look at the pole you'll see the baby orangutan. He kept moving so much. This is the best picture.

This flamingo came right up to the glass.

I love cheetahs

Just two brown bears chillin'

We absolutely love our little baby bear and her big sister too.

Kaelie is growing so fast. Already 5 months. I can't believe it.

We are working on our lawn this weekend. I'll try to post pictures.

Have a great weekend!!!

Oh the wonderful world of two

The two in the title refers to both the number of children we have and Izebelle's age. Both things are fun and both leave me exhausted. Izebelle has an insane amount of energy. Luckily there are times when I can harness that energy and use its powers for good. Like having her help me do things around the house. I love it when she picks up and helps with Kaelie. Unfortunately Izebelle has turned her cleanliness into somewhat of a negative by throwing away things that we actually use/need. Lately we have found toy storage bags in the trash and I know its only a matter of time before its something important, like Marty's wallet or my wedding ring. I just hope we continue to catch it and that it doesn't escalate into her flushing things once she's potty trained.

I absolutely love watching the girls interact. Today Ize was dancing and jumping around on the couch and Kaelie was just laughing at her. It was so cute. Its definitely moments like those that make all the hard times seem pointless.

Speaking of times that are somewhat difficult. I mentioned in an earlier post that Izebelle learned the word "no" (side note: she is starting to talk so much- YAY!). I was ok with hearing "no" especially when I would ask her what she wanted for lunch or what movie to turn on, but then "no" become a way for Ize to start lying to us. She doesn't know she is technically lying. She thinks she is just being funny and if you know Izebelle at all you know she is full of personality and that she is absolutely hilarious. Still though, it is lying and we are trying to nip it in the bud. Its simple things though, like we ask if she has a dirty diaper and she says "no", but we can tell that it is. I know they aren't big lies, but I think no matter their age, it is never too early to teach the importance of being honest. I'm a realist and I understand that she might not always be honest with me, but I hope that she understands that she can be and should be.

Look at this little stinker. She always looks this crazy. I love it!

(Her hair looks short because its in pig tails)

Here is a better shot of her hair

Sorry these pictures are a little blurry. Its hard to get her to stay still

So happy!!!

You know sometimes people say that they think your baby is so cute and they say to the baby, "you can come hang out with me." Kaelie is such a great baby that I actually think they would want to keep her. Its really amazing how wonderful she is and laid back. I love both girls so so much, so don't interpret this as me saying I love her more, I'm just saying that she has a great temperament and we are so lucky that she is such a terrific baby.

So Kaelie tried solids for the first time the other day and she did ok. She spit a lot out, but ever since then she sits on the couch and moves her mouth like she is eating. I hope she starts actually getting most of it in her tummy.

I guess I should have tried to explain that the objective is to actually keep it in and not all over the bib

Happy its over.

I should mention that Ize was eating vegetables and pointed at Kaelie's food and made it apparent that she wanted some. Despite us telling her it wouldn't taste good she kept insisting so Marty gave her a bite. Needless to say she didn't like it.

I had to include this picture because I love it so much. Izebelle is starting to accessorize and I absolutely enjoy it (note the necklace and hair barrette)

We just submitted plans to the HOA for landscaping our front yard. Hopefully they get approved tomorrow and we can start to really renovate it. I'll post pictures soon.

Marty's mom comes in Thursday, so I might post pictures next week of things we do.

Have a great week!

Weigh In Results

Today was my first official weigh in. I have been periodically checking my weight, but today is the first deadline. So I have lost 6 1/2 pounds. Woo hoo! Others may not be exited but I am. The reasons why I am so happy are as followed: I didn't workout for like 2 1/2 of the 5 weeks because I was really sick and couldn't breath (I have asthma so it was like torture), I also continued to eat out periodically (although I have been trying to eat healthier), and I am below the weight I was when I got pregnant with Kaelie. I am so happy. It could be all the endorphins but either way I hope it keeps up.

Ideally I would like to be below what I weighed when I got pregnant with Izebelle, which is a little over double what I've lost so far. I am hoping I can do it because I will hopefully workout the entire 5 weeks this time. Next weigh in is on April 28, which is right when we leave for Utah for a trip. So maybe a slimmer me will be rewarded with a vacation.

So, a side note. I have been thinking about a lot of tragic things lately. Sometimes life gets nearly unbearable. Its hard to know where to turn and sometimes we may feel very lonely. We read this scripture tonight as a family and I thought about the one person we can always turn to who truly knows suffering and will always comfort us. We were reading in 3 Nephi chapter 11. Jesus appears to the Nephite people shortly after they see a sign confirming His death. Jesus says this: (verse 11) And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning."

I hope that if anyone is suffering or feels alone that they not only turn to the Savior for comfort but also always feel free to call me.

Have a great weekend everyone

Updates

So Kaelie had her 4 month appointment yesterday. She did great. Izebelle freaked out as soon as she saw the nurse. She's already figured out People in Scrubs= Sharp Needles. She did pretty good though. Ize held Kae's hand and we were home before we knew it. Kaelie weighed 14 lbs 8 oz (75%), she is 24 1/4 inches long (55%) and her head is in the 75th percentile. Seems she is taking after me in the height and weight department. She is absolutely cute though.

I had to include a picture of Izebelle's crazy hair when she was sick. It's classic.

Kaelie with her Pooh Bear hat

Ize trying to wear the hat too

We have met a milestone. Izebelle was able to get her hair in a pony tail. Granted it wasn't very long and took some bobby pins, but hey its still a pony tail. If she wants to wear one out though, it's going to take a lot of hair spray.

If you don't already know this, Ize learned how to say "No!" She is a little behind in communication, so we've been working with a speech therapist, but this is one word I was not hoping she would learn any time soon. I guess hearing it all day really helped her learn it. So now I hear it all day. It can be cute though. Izebelle has also started getting sassy (2 going on 22). She puts her hands on her hips and leans to one side or shakes her hips. It's so adorable.

I have been a walking zombie lately. Kaelie is so restless at night. She seriously won't sleep no matter what I do. Recently I noticed a couple of ladies at Church are pregnant. One has four kids and the other five. I can't imagine having that many kids. It makes me physically tense. I also can't imagine how tired I would be if I had that many children. All I have to say is these women are fearless and are truly saints. Congrats to them.

There are a lot of people out there going through a lot of things, both locally and internationally and all I want to say is that we are praying for them/you.

I hope everyone has a good rest of the week and a great weekend!

Don't forget to wear green.

Information Overload

So as you know we've been sick for the past few weeks so I've really slacked on posting and basically doing anything other than resting. Out of all of us, thankfully I am the only one who still has a cough and runny nose. Luckily the girls seem way better.

So since its been awhile, I'm about to share tons of info about what we've been up to and also more pictures than you can handle. At least the contents are cute.

To start off. We went to Chuck-E-Cheese about 3 weeks ago to celebrate Ize's birthday with a friend of ours. She had a blast and so did we. Every ride only costs one token and we had a coupon that got us 75 tokens and a large pepperoni pizza for $20. So basically we were set for hours and hours of fun. They had a cool photo booth that we took a few pictures in that turned out great and are now on our fridge. They had some music videos that featured their characters singing popular songs (like Bieber's "Baby", thank u for that gem Chuck). Ize road almost all the rides about 5 times, Marty played a few games, and we met the mouse. I'm pretty sure we'll go back again.

I may be bias, but she is so adorable

Sure she likes to ride the bus now but wait until she's in high school

She spotted Chuck

Busting a move

Hugging Chuck

Next I would like to show you pictures from Izebelle's first car wash experience and let you determine if she loved it or hated it.

Its approaching her side

She's lost it

What loving mother wouldn't be laughing in the background as their child is freaking out?

So obviously she hated it, but she survived and now has a great story for nursery.

All in all, we've been pretty good and pretty busy. We are slowing fixing things up around the house so maybe I'll have a blog post about that soon with some pictures. I have my first weigh-in for my working out in two weeks, so look out for that. We are also planning a trip to to Utah the end of April. I cannot wait. Its going to be so much fun to have a change of scenery.

I'll leave you with some fun pictures of the girls.

Ize trying on a fake hair headband from Grandma Redger

Kae with the headband

Baby bear Kaelie

Izebelle trying on the bear outfit

Kaelie going Hollywood

Izebelle wearing the same glasses when she was a baby

Have a great week!