Miss Marley

Marley was born on March 15th and joined our family 6 weeks later at the end of April. She is a pug/cocker spaniel mix and has been the kid's favorite thing ever. When she was younger we had to watch her closely because Jayda would treat her like a baby doll and we would find her in the doll house, in backpacks, in the closet, in baby strollers, etc. Jayda loves to play, hug and carry her around. Bentley also loves her, but loves to run around with her and throw balls for her to fetch. She has not been perfect (she is a puppy) but has been a really great dog overall. We are happy to have her in our family.

 

Disneyland

At the end of February we drove out to California with my family and met up with Landon and Melissa to go to Disneyland and the beach. Sunday was the beach and the kids were in heaven. The weather was plenty warm and we stayed for almost the whole day.

Monday we went to Disney and ran into the Hildebrand family as soon as we got there. It was so fun to have Jayda reunited with "Kayla and Kell" for a little while. She held hands with them and was inseparable from them. They invited her to go to Marquelle's birthday party at Ariel's grotto the next day which we all went to and were able to take pictures with a few of the classic princesses.
Both kids were a bit overwhelmed and a little scared as we walked down main street and into Disneyland on the first morning. It was loud and crowded and they were not quite sure what to think, but after a few rides they relaxed and were having a blast.

 

 The Disney parade was magical, unfortunately Bentley slept through the entire thing the first night. On the second night we went he was able to catch it.

 Jayda slept two nights on these two chairs. I can't see how it was comfortable but she wanted her own little sleeping space.

 Jayda's favorite princess is Ariel.

 My favorite princess to see was Mereda. She was so fun and bubbly and was fantastic.

 
The kids went on Pirates of the Carribean 4 times despite being scared of the drop off and the pirates. They also went on the Haunted mansion with us and were so proud of themselves when they were done. Jayda's favorite ride was the Cars ride and Bentley's favorite was the Buzz Light Year ride because he could shoot everything.
The entire trip was absolutely amazing. The kids were so fun to watch and Bryce had every bit as much fun as they did. I was just happy to see them all having fun.
I feel sick, but all of the pictures from my phone got deleted so this is all we have other than video.

Kindergarten checkup

This is the sweet, excited happy face of a 4 year old who has no clue what kind of pain she is about to endure. She is smart and knew that she would be getting shots, but said she would be brave and was excited to show the doctor how she could hop and see how much she had grown.

Jayda is 40.5 inches tall which is just tall enough to go on all of the rides at Disneyland which is very convenient since we will be going there shortly. :) She also weighs 34.2 pounds. She is in the 35% for height and 24% for weight which is a big surprise to me considering when this little beauty queen was born she was 8 pounds 13 oz and in the 95% for height! It looks like she probably won't be as tall as us girls on my side of the family.
Jayda got three shots in her legs and I don't think I will ever forget the look of terror on her face as they gave her the 3rd one. It absolutely broke my heart. She tried as hard as she could to hold back the tears, but once the nurses were out of the room she sobbed and said she never wanted to do that again. I carried the poor girl out of the doctors office and she just clung to me.

I promised Jayda an ice cream afterward and she wanted to go to Orange leaf so she could get gummy bears. She chose the pineapple yogurt with gummy bears and gummy worms. Bentley chose birthday cake with gummy bears as well. It was nice to see a smile on her face again.

He was too busy chewing to smile for a picture.

 

A little bit about Jayda:
Right now if Jayda could only have one toy in the world it would be a stuffed animal, particularly a dog or cat.
She loves to play all day with her brother and her stuffed animals.
She is also enjoying two dance classes a week and loves to perform. If she could have a performance every week she would be happy.
She is very good about brushing her teeth and eating her fruits and vegetables. The things she is more hesitant to eat are meats and foods that are combined like casseroles.
Jayda picked out the outfit she is wearing and is wearing a Tangled shirt she got from Nanny and Papa, a belt she tied around her waist, and comfy velour  pants. She definitely prefers soft pants and leggings over jeans any day. I say, "Amen sista!"

Monday adventure

Today the kids wanted to go for a walk with their stroller and shopping cart so we went on a mini adventure around the block. We bundled up and strolled around.

Things started out easy going.

Then Bentley decided to attempt four wheeling and got stuck on snow pile after snow pile but thought it was great.

 

  Along the way he started noticing all different types of treasures and put them in his shopping cart. He found pinecones, rocks, sticks and found some special beans. He was a little ways behind Jayda and I and said,  "Look guys! A bean!" then put it in his cart. I figured it was one of those beans that grows on trees. Then he went back and said, "Look guys! Another bean!" and put it in his shopping cart. Then for a third time the same thing. I was tired of this game so I walked back to help him along, when I found out what the beans were....

 DEER POOP!!!!
The only thing I could do was dump them out of the shopping cart and tell him not to touch anything until we got home. Gotta love curious little boys.
Jayda thought this was the perfect place to stop and take a picture.

Christmas 2013

This Christmas was probably the most fun we have had as a little family. Both of the kids were old enough to understand the concept of Santa and be excited about it. They sang Christmas songs daily and wanted to have a sleepover at Nanny's house so that is what we did. Santa kept things pretty simple with one big present for each of them and a few little presents. Jayda got a large luxury doll house with a few Disney barbies to go with it and Bentley got a train/block table with blocks and train tracks.

 Now take a look at the next two pictures..... People tell me that Bentley looks just like Bryce and now I believe them. :)

 Bentley definitely made things more entertaining on Christmas morning. He was very animated about all of the presents he got which made it fun to watch him. Sweet little Jayda was also very excited for everything, but once she was finished opening her presents we lost her to the doll house which made us happy that she loved it so much.

The start of Christmas festivities

I'm hoping that instead of just spending all of my time preparing for Christmas, which is what I usually do, I can create some memories for us. I am not super crafty and am still at work so I just found a few simple activities that were cheap and that we could do together. We have also been watching fantastic little movie clips from the Mormon Channel which have really helped us bring the Christmas spirit into our home. I have been pleasantly surprised to see that the kids, especially Jayda, love these movies and beg for more.

On Sunday we sat down together and created these paper Christmas trees with gold glitter stars and talked about the special star up in the sky when Jesus was born. The kids like to have us twirl the fan around and watch the trees spin like a mobile.

The kids also got to open their first present which was new Christmas pjs. We wanted them to have them long enough to enjoy them before Christmas came. Luckily they were a hit.

Monday night for family night we invited our next door neighbor and her 3 girls over to decorate gingerbread men. Bentley and Bryce's man is on the left with as much candy as they could possibly fit and Jayda's is on the right. I put the icing on for her and she did the rest. 

Last but not least, what would Christmas be without a 6 foot icicle in your nightly bath?

Off the grid

A few things have happened lately which have/will kind of take me off the grid... Bryce and I both got rid of our Instagram and Facebook accounts. This was something we felt like will help us to be more present in our relationships at home and not something that we felt like was helping us to be better people. Both of these apps were fun, but became more of a time waster than a real benefit in our lives so out it goes! A little winter cleaning I guess.

The other more important thing is that I quit my job. Wait, let me say it again...
I    QUIT    MY     JOB!!!
I am going to be a full-time mom to our two little monkeys now. My last day at work will be the 20th of December. As absolutely scared as I am, I know this is a necessary step for our family and the right thing to do at this time.

I plan on writing much more in our family blog (this one) so that we can have a better record of the ups and downs I'm sure will come and the fun things that we do together. This will also be a way for people to follow a bit of what is going on with us if they want to. This way we won't go completely off the map.