Happy Days

My days are always happy when I'm in Maryland, I love being here. I love that I grew up here and I miss it when I leave. Its not just my family that I miss its the actual state. I miss all the green, I really miss the beach, I miss going to museums, I miss all the people, I just miss it. I love coming back to visit and we always have so much fun. This trip is no different, the last 4 days have been filled with playing, outings, reading books, coloring, decorating the Christmas tree, and seeing Santa again. Our flights out were so much better then I anticipated. I once again flew out with both girls by myself since Jacob couldn't come out as early as we were. I beyond love flying with Savannah. She is the most amazing flyer hands down. She doesn't throw a fit, she stays with me, listens, and is so excited the whole time. She is just a joy to travel on a plane with. Olivia had me a bit more nervous because she is in the stage of life where she hates to sit still. The night before our flight I kept telling Jacob I was so nervous I thought I might throw up. Oh and as a side note the night before our flight Savannah threw up chocolate all over my mother in laws white carpet, our furnace blew up literally, and the girls both woke up repeatedly. Anyway back to our flight, Olivia exceeded my expectations greatly and only threw a fit during out layover in Salt Lake because she wanted to get into things she couldn't while walking around and the last hour of our flight into Baltimore. She basically just screamed because she hadn't slept all day and was done traveling and was just beyond tired. She fell asleep on the way to my parents and was so passed out she didn't wake up while being taken out of the car seat or while having her shoes or coat taken off. She slept all night in her pack-n-play which was another worry of mine because Olivia is very particular about where she sleeps. She only likes to sleep in her bed which is very annoying to be honest. She only threw a fit twice the next day about having to sleep in the pack-n-play and now she goes down just the same as if she's in her own bed. Its a huge relief and just plain fantastic. Savannah has become quite smitten with my dad and whenever he's home you can typically find them doing something together. They watch movies, play air hockey, read books, and when we go out to eat Savannah asks to sit next to poppa. Its very sweet to watch. Olivia really only wants me all the time which is a bit tiring and it makes me very excited for Jacob to join us. I can't believe how fast our trip is already going and soon enough it will all be over but I'm trying to enjoy these happy days in Maryland as much as I can and we'll see how much we can squeeze into our stay.

Jump Time

So we went to Jacob’s work party last night and it was fantastic! This is the first time they’ve had a party where the whole family could come and it was just so much fun. There was something for everyone and our family had a blast. I didn’t get any good pictures because we were all running around so much I couldn’t get anyone to sit still long enough to get a picture in focus but these 3 are suitable enough. The girls loved the trampolines, Olivia wouldn’t let me hold her while we were on them at all. She was content to try bouncing on her own and walking around and falling over a lot. She’d just giggle and squeal and had a permanent smile on her face almost the whole night. Savannah loved jumping and playing in all the bounce houses they had too. Her favorite was the one shown below with the slide. She and her little friends she made had a blast running up the steps and all sliding down together over and over again. She also really enjoyed running down the long trampolines into the foam block pit. Jacob’s work also provided dinner so we had pizza, sandwiches, veggies, chips and tons of sodas and water. After going to these parties for the last 5 years I can say this one was my most favorite and we all loved every minute of it. Thank you Woodland Manufacturing for a great night.

Quite Time

I started quite time at our house and I absolutely love it as does Savannah. Some days she even asks me if its quiet time yet. Her quiet time starts when Olivia takes her afternoon nap (yes Olivia still takes 2 naps and sleeps from 7:30pm-8/8:30am, I know that I am quite lucky with this.) Anyway back to Savannah while I’m putting Olivia down for her nap, Savannah goes to the bathroom and gets in her bed. She then has to stay on her bed for 45 minutes. I give her a drink and some books that she can look at, if she gets up at all I add 5 more minutes to her time. I have come to love this and have questioned why I didn’t start this sooner. I honestly think Savannah wouldn’t have taken so well to quite time if I had started sooner. Savannah needs to understand why something is happening and she needs to feel in control like its her doing and she is finally at an age where I can reason with her. The way I explained quite time is its not nap time and she does not have to take a nap (at least 2 times a week she does end up falling asleep.) She is allowed to have her door open but I do close the door to the girls hallway so some of the noise I make is muffled. I tell her what I’ll be doing so that she knows I might be making noise and I tell her when the timer goes off I will come and get her and that she will then be able to get out of bed. I tried to make quite time not seem like a punishment and I also explained that mommy is having her quite time too. I rarely have to add more time, sometimes I do have to remind Savannah to whisper because she’s reading her stories to loud. Overall quite time has been a huge success and it allows me to clean up from the morning of playing and I can usually work on a project, catch up online, or read a book. Also it calms Savannah down for the afternoon and gets her ready for the evening. I love quite time.

Couldn't Wait

So Jacob's work used to sell these rocking horses and haven't now for quite some time. They had a few lying around and said whoever wanted one could have them. We totally jumped on that because hello its free and rocking horses have become one of Savannah's favorite toys. She's come quite a way from the days where I couldn't pay her to even touch one. Clearly Olivia does not have the same fear because she and Savannah now fight over who's turn it is to sit on the rocking horse. Savannah will drag it all over the house to whatever room she's playing in and Olivia is content to just sit with her feet propped up or she's start rocking herself back and forth while trying to make the horse move. I'm glad we didn't wait till Christmas to give this gift to the girls because I'm having so much fun watching them play with it now.

What I Know

Its 6:30 in the morning and I'm wide awake, I've been in one of my reflecting moods again and I kept writing this post in my head so I thought I better just get up and do it. There are many people who think those who believe in God are weak and naive and they feel sorry for us that we've been coned into believing in a religion. But the same is true of how I think of them. I feel sorry for them that they are left going through this life believing there isn't a God. That they have let the world convince them that they are weak and naive if they do believe in a loving Heavenly Father. I do believe in God and I am in no way weak or naive. I can't imagine how lost I would feel if I didn't know that there is a God. I would be terrified living my life if I had no knowledge of a life after this one. I would be terrified of death if I though after my life was over there was nothing. I know life isn't perfect, that we have hardships and that is a reason people question if there is a God. I think its a way we can tell there is one. What would be the point of being here if we didn't have trials? If life was perfect it would be so boring. I look back on my life and I'm grateful for all the things that have gone wrong, that are considered trials because they've helped me become the person I am today. I have learned things about myself that I would never have known. They have helped me grow closer to my Heavenly Father and they have taught me to rely on him. I could see how that might not be the same with others, I'm a fairly optimistic person not necessarily while I'm going through my trials but as a whole I think I have a very positive outlook on life. This might make some think I've never really had anything really bad happen to me and I would have to agree with them. In comparison to some I really haven't had anything horribly bad happen in my life but in comparison to others I have.
So what brought on this jumble of thoughts? Well its because of the man standing on my right.

This is the last picture I took with my Grandpa McCombs back when I was pregnant with Olivia. I did get to see him once after when Olivia was 6 months old but sadly didn't get a picture with him. My grandpa died last Monday and this past week has been spent reflecting. I was incredibly busy this past week what with Thanksgiving on Thursday and I was hosting it and feeding 14 people. I quite enjoyed how hectic my week was because it only left minimal time for me to remember that he had died and then I didn't spend the whole week crying. I'd just tear up every now and again as I remember something about him or realize that I wouldn't be able to attend his funeral which is starting in half an hour. It is times like this why I am beyond grateful that I know there is a God, that I know there is a life after this one, and that I will see my grandpa again.
My grandpa was one of the VERY few people that I allowed to call me Jill really my dad is the only other person I can tolerate using that name. Whenever I'd come to there house I remember seeing my grandpa sitting in his room and as soon as he'd see me he'd start rocking his chair to help him get up. He'd come right out and give a smile that said to me, you've been missed and I love you so much. Watching him interact with my girls was a real joy. I could tell he didn't always know what to do with them but he loved watching them and he gave them the same smile he'd give me. My grandpa grew up in a time where dad's weren't as involved so he wasn't either but he was always present. I knew how much he loved me, I could see how he adored my grandma. I remember him taking us out to eat, I remember the sense of pride he'd have when he'd introduce me to people. I remember the good things about him and that's how I want it to stay, that's how I'll talk about him to my children. I love him and I miss him but I know we will meet again.

Choclate Pudding + Olivia

Equals a huge mess and lots of fun. I'm glad I took her shirt off or we would have had an even bigger mess to clean up. She did love every minute of it though and I loved watching her.

Book of Mormon Video

So my brother in law posted this video on his facebook page, now I rarely watch video's that people post but I thought I'd give it a try. I'm so glad I did, I think its a great description of what the Book of Mormon is and what members of The Church of Jesus Christ believe.

Easy Peasy

I found an easy project to work on and I was so excited to finally have time to do it. All I needed was some bottles ( I just happened to have some Pepsi glass bottles that Jacob was so kind to let me use), puffy paint or you could use a hot glue gun, and spray paint.

I made designs on the bottles using the puffy paint and let it dry overnight just to be sure. Then I spray painted them white and voila! Now I have four cute bottles that I can leave alone like this or put something in. I also found a wood box that one of Olivia's toys had come in so I whipped out another can of spray paint and turned it green and then wrapped a piece of ribbon around it. I love how it turned out and even Jacob complimented me on my project. I think the whole project cost me $3 since I already had the ribbon, bottles, box, and my sister in law let me use her white spray paint, you really can't beat that.

Halloween 2011

Halloween was SO much fun this year! Savannah was a butterfly and Miss Olivia was a ladybug. Since we don't live in a neighborhood anymore we headed to Jacob's sisters and went trick or treating with all the girls cousins. Savannah was so funny, every time she'd go to a door she'd yell trick or treat in her slurred way and then yell thank you as she's running from the door. Then she would proceed to give me the cutest face while gasping and saying, "Look it! Look what I got!" Olivia also got in the Halloween fun and would take her candy from the bowl and put it into her basket. They were both so good and Savannah was so excited to run to all the houses. When we decided we were done Savannah followed right behind us and didn't even complain that we were done. I was so proud of her, now we'll have to see how the coming days go with not eating too much of her candy.

Fall Fun Part 2

Savannah couldn't wait to play in the leaves again so out she and Jacob went. He buried her in the leaves and she had fun getting herself out. She also sported her new Boise State shirt thanks to Old Navy and there buy one get on free deal. She and Olivia will now match when we cheer on our beloved Bronco's.

Fall Fun

Yesterday was a super fun day because we got to hang out with two of our favorite people Lynsie and Avery. The kids had a blast playing in the leaves and running around. I do love fall but not having to rake up all the leaves that are in our yard.

Family Pictures

So last night my sister in law Sarah took some fantastic pictures of our little family and I love what I've seen so far. She was so patient with the girls and kept trying to get some good pictures, it was inevitable that one of the girls would cooperate while the other would not. Here are the ones Sarah  finished working on so far and I hope you like them as much as we do. If you live in the Boise area and need pictures taken and someone to take them for you here's a link to her site, I know she'll do a great job for you because everything I've seen of hers is always fantastic.

 

Good Deal of the Day

Ok so I get daily emails from this site called Freebies to Deals. One of their deals today is for a Belle Disney Princess Doll for $5.99 with free shipping. Savannah won't be getting hers till Christmas but its never a bad idea to start your shopping early. Here is the link and when you go to the Mattel page I had to search for Disney Princess Dolls and the Belle you want is on the very last page and is the very last one pictured. Happy shopping to you all, it really is a great present if you have little girls or know of someone who does. Savannah already has a Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty that she got as gifts from Birthday parties and she loves them.

Olivia Favorites

These are pictures my mom took during her visit back in July for Olivia's birthday. I already posted my favorite pictures of Savannah here and now its Olivia's turn. Oh how I do adore this little girl, she is so curious and she loves to play. She is almost always smiling and she loves to dance and sing, you can usually catch her multiple times during the day swaying back and forth singing to herself.

Here I caught her while playing in the family room.

She was quite curious about the camera and wanted a closer inspection.

Here is our happy girl talking to her sister.

Something Olivia and Savannah have in common is screaming. Savannah is now over that stage but this was a favorite activity when she was this age as well.

My beautiful blue eyed girl loves sitting in this pink rocking chair and its just right for her.

Olivia continues to amaze me with everything she's picking up and learning. She's trying to talk more and has mastered "no", "uh-oh", "nana" for Savannah, "mommy", "dadde", and "g it" for get it. She is a fantastic eater and an amazing napper she still takes two and they average 2 hours each. Plus she sleeps threw the night 7:30pm-7:30am or later its fantastic the only draw back is she only likes to sleep in her bed so it can be a problem if we're somewhere else during nap or bedtime. She's almost walking which is so exciting, she has 7 teeth and is working on 3 more molars that are almost in (they're taking forever!) Olivia is skinny and tall she only weighs 20 lbs and she's 29 in. Olivia is so laid back and just an easy going girl, she also adores her big sister and wants to do whatever she is doing and be wherever she is. I don't know what I did to deserve such a fantastic kid but I'm glad she's mine.

Waste Not Want Not

So do your kids go through phases when they really love a certain food and then that love seems to fade? Both my girls do this hence I had to get the creative juices flowing so I wouldn't waste a bunch of yogurt.  I typically have a smoothie for one of my meals during the day or as an evening snack and I use yogurt in them. Both the girls would beg for one of my yogurts when I'd pull it out of the fridge so finally I bought them some of their own because I was tired of sharing. Once I finally got them their own they then decided that yogurt wasn't so great after all and suddenly I had an expiration date looming ahead and a desire to not waste what we had. Enter my brilliant to me idea to turn our yogurt into popsicles. I won't lie they are a pain to get out of the container, I wish I had a popsicle mold and then I would have used that with  hopefully a better outcome. Anyway they're a hit and I was proud of my little accomplishment to not waste what we had.

True to its Name

So I normally wouldn't post about this but I'm so impressed that I just had to. I got a bountiful basket today, I've always been satisfied with my baskets but today I was totally impressed with how much was in it. In our basket we got the following:  8 lemons, 8 apples, 2 apple pears, 3 plums, 1 pomegranate, 2 peppers, 36 small potatoes, 2 bags of carrots, 4 heads of broccoli, 9 bananas, 1 bag of grapes, 7 ears of corn, and 1 head of lettuce and all I paid was $16. It was a perfect start to what has been a perfect day. If you haven't heard of bountiful baskets or want to know if they have any where you live click on the link above. We usually only get 1 basket a month or every month and a half but every time we do get one I'm not disappointed and we can get new to us food so it makes us broaden our taste buds which is always nice.

Outside Adventure

We finally had a nice day so I decided to take the girls outside for some play time. We all had so much fun, Savannah insisted on wearing one of her dress-up outfits which was fine by me and Olivia played on the blanket and sat on our rocking chair. Near the end Olivia was done and ready for a nap which she totally let me know by throwing a mini fit. It was a great afternoon and I'm glad the weather is finally allowing for more outside time.

One Word

and that word is Pinterest. I'm in love, if you know what it is you'll understand what I mean and if you don't know what I'm talking about you better google it.

Happy Birthday Savannah!

So this post has tons of pictures because we just had Savannah's 3rd Birthday Party! That's right my baby is 3, the time has gone by way too fast, I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that I have a 3 year old. Savannah is your typical girly girl so we of course had a Pinkalicious Birthday party. Have you heard of the book? Its one of Savannah's favorites next to Fancy Nancy.I made all the decorations cause that's just something I actually enjoy doing. I probably set up for her party for at least 4 days, once I'd get something finished then I'd hang it up. Every morning when Savannah woke up she'd run into the living room and kitchen to see what new things there were to see. Then she'd climb in bed with me and say, "Thank you for my birfday, its so beautiful!" We had over all of Jacob's family and some of Savannah's little friends, this year Savannah even got a bounce house for her party. It was a hit.

We still had the pom poms hanging from Olivia's birthday so we left those up and added a pink garland which is just  yarn and I mad a fabric banner.

I attached flowers where each flag met and had pink ribbon along the top and used the same yarn on the light to hang with the banner.

This was my splurge item, I found these cute lanterns at the party supply store by our house, my favorite part about them is you can use a battery to turn them on instead of using an outlet so you can use them anywhere.

 

In addition to the fabric banners I also made ones with scrapbook paper and cut it into circles and strung it with more pink yarn.

 
In addition to the yarn hanging from the light in the kitchen I also hung some from the light in our living room.

I copied the idea I had for Olivia's birthday and hung ribbons from the window in the kitchen.

I found this cute sheer ribbon with flowers in it and used that to pull the curtains with and I used it around some of the glass containers on the food table.

For me no party is really complete till you add flowers, I love flowers. I saw these cute things in our pantry and Jacob got quite a kick out of it when he asked me why I had used cheese graters as flower holders and I told him I didn't know they were cheese graters when I decided to use them. I think they're perfect.

Here is our yummy food table, we had pink and green food to go along with the book. Our pink food was our junk food, we had pink whoppers, pink marshmallows, and oreo's with pink filling. Our green food was more healthy, grapes, cucumbers, and broccoli. I also made this yummy strawberry mint punch.
 
 We also had yummy pink cupcakes because that's what starts all the mess in Pinkalicious anyway.

All the kids loved the bounce house and even Olivia got a turn inside.

Savannah was so excited when we were all singing to her, she even sung along and blew her candle out and everything.

My cousin's wife Cheryl even got Savannah a Pinkalicious doll, Savannah held her while we read stories and she slept with her as well.

This is a dress-up dress she got from my mom, Savannah put it on as soon as she could and she's been wearing it all day today as well.

Savannah is such a joy, she can make me want to rip my hair out but she's still a joy none the less. I have loved being her mother and feel so blessed to know her. I love her curious nature, she is determined, inventive, smart, so silly, very tender hearted, imaginative, fearless, and just plain old fantastic. I cherish each moment I have with her and look forward to seeing her grow up as well. I can't imagine our lives without her.