18 Months Already!

Sydney's 18 month stats:

Ht32" 55%

Weight 22# 13 oz 28%

Sydney turned 18 months today. So this post is dedicated to her:
Being her mother I of course think she is super cute & incredibly smart! She takes care of her brother, making sure that he has one of everything she has. Like Ty, she will see things at the store & let me know who needs it. Usually she is telling me Daddy needs a new bike since his was stolen. Sydney can jump with two feet, climb up & down anything. She has no trouble keeping up with the big kids. She’ll let me know when she needs to “brush a teeth” or “go potty”. She uses the potty at least a couple times a day. She says “trash” when she sees something needing to be thrown away & will do so. If she needs something at bed-time she’ll just tell us what it is & lay patiently while we go get it, what baby does that? She sings along to some of Ty’s Noggin shows. Today he taught Sydney the dance & song from Ni Hao Kai-Lan, where Tully needs to calm down. They were swaying back & forth while both singing “Side-to-side, Side-to-side, Calm, calm, down.” They were in-sync & it was awesome.
Sydney loves to laugh, dance, sing & play. She loves being with friends, taking care of her baby dolls & being playfully tossed around by daddy. She also got her first real haircut yesterday. I started to fear a mullet, so I gave her a little A-line cut. I am not an expert stylist, but we can still do pig-tales, so life is good.
I love having a little girl, especially this sweet, adorable 18 month old!

Things I Learned while Jeff was Out of Town…

• It is not the time to organize getting a fridge.
• When someone mentions pink-eye write them off for at least 5 days.
• The time your childcare will fall through will always be when you need it most.
• Always clean your house before going to bed. You never know who will be spending the next day there.
• Don’t watch abduction shows late at night.
• Don't let your 4 yr old sleep with you. A king bed is just way too small.
• To be grateful for any night with more than 6 hours of sleep.
• And…. how much we (mostly I) miss him when he is gone! I am so glad to have more than a provider and protector. He is a true partner in the best sense of the word.

I got a long dark splinter stuck in my finger the other night. Try after try, I could not get it out. I handed Ty some tweesers & put him to work. On his second try he pulled it out. What a superstar! He was so proud of himself for saving Mom.

Easter

This Easter was unlike any Arizona Easter we’ve had so far. Usually we put the eggs outside & immediately have to start the hunt. Within minutes the chocolate is all melted & we can no longer tolerate being without a/c. This year was beautiful! It was in the 70s & so beautiful!
My parents came out for 3 days & enjoyed the holiday with us.

The kids didn't give Grandma any down time. They were bringing her books to read them only moments after after she awoke.

We had a small egg hunt at our house with a few of the kids closest playmates. I had hoped for it to be a little swim party/egg hunt; but with the non-swim weather, we called in a bouncer at the last minute. The kids had a blast! Sydney's friend Abby was playing with the roller-coaster car on the patio. Our tough little cookie snagged the car from Abby, insisting on putting it back where it goes. This picture is after she carried it about 20 feet.

After the party died down we played duck-duck-goose & ring-around-the-rosie in the bouncer.
On Saturday it was rainy, but we enjoyed the town celebration & egg hunt there. Later the girls went shopping while the guys went to the Science Center & Planetarium.

On Sunday Jeff & I went to church by ourselves.

(Sidenote: Next week Sydney starts Nursery! YEAH!)

When we returned we could see the Easter bunny had come. That tricky little bunny had set up a scavenger hunt. The kids were totally into it & were excited about each clue. Once they reached the final destination Ty couldn’t find the baskets, but Sydney did. She got a Barbie Jeep & Ty got a nerf gun he had been wanting.

We love the egg hunts, bunny, toys & candy, but more than that we love Christ. It's been fun to see Ty's little mind work as we share story & testimony with him. We hope you all had a great Easter as well!

The Busy Simple Life

I don't know what I did with my time before I had kids. Here is what we've been up to lately:

Friday: After teaching Preschool, I realized Sydney was being quiet...never a good sign. She got the soap pump from the bathroom. The aftermath...

I don't know if she was trying to wash her hair or her tutu, but she suceeded.

Saturday: I did not make bows. Hard to believe, I know! Instead I built 2 frames & a new desk for our computer. We keep our computer in the kitchen. It was on a sad old microwave cart. I got to use my 2 awesome saws that I got for Christmas. With my grand carpenter skills (ha ha)...I didn't buy anything, just used scrap wood we had left from other projects. I'm sure someday I'll have it sitting by the curb with a 'free' sign, but for now it's my little masterpiece. Did I make you proud Tif??

The plan was to add doors to the inside part, but our printer is too big.

Monday (today): We had a fun day out. Now we are getting ready to go to Jeff's basketball game. It's the High School's Varsity team vs. the Staff. It should be a blast. Here we are preping the signs.

Thank goodness for washable markers!!


Tomorrow will be an exciting day of work & then a jewlery making Young Women's activity at my house. We love our simple, drama-free, yet crazy busy lives!

Fun & Funnny Times

We'll start with Sydney...She learned how to say hair bow in the last week or two. ALL DAY today she needed to be wearing a "wear-bow" and all her baby dolls needed one too. I was putting a new shirt on her & while pulling it up over her head I hear, "AH! My hair bow!" She was obviously mad that I messed up her cutsie hair. When relaying the story to Jeff I was reminded that while I was in labor with Ty the only negative emotion I showed was when Jeff put a wet washcloth on my forehead. I was afraid to ruin my hair. Yes, she is definitely mine. Here are some of her recent hairstyles:

Some friends & I have been doing a little Preshool for our kids. This was our craft for the week, an icing P decorated with marshmallows.

This is Ty's:

Then this one is Sydney's

Last but certainly not least. A close friend turned 30 last week. They had a luau with fun games & a sumo wrestling tournament. Jeff was taken in his first match. I beat out 2 girls, made it to the finals. Then a girl twice my size took me down in seconds. It was a blast. Here are the photos. Usually I don't post unflattering pictures of myself, but here we go...

Jeff: started off strong.

And, he's down. I think the dude karate chopped him:

This is my 1st match of the 3. Don't you love the hair?

I'm not hiding, just pushing:

I win! I was trying to help her up, but that wasn't a very logical idea.

The girls could barely walk in the suits. The guys were a different story. These are a few other great shots.

The night was a blast! It's great to have friends who know how to have fun.

A Visit from Auntie Jenna!!

This week Jeff's sister & her husband came to town. After a brief hello Aunt Jenna & Uncle Wyatt whipped out the toys & chocolates they brought. Ty was stoked about his mini pop-up tent. Now his toys can have their own camp-out. It certainly brought out the wild-child in him.

We visited at Hard Rock Cafe, let the kids swim at the hotel. The next day we took Jenna back to our house. We had a schedule conflict, so luckily she saved us by watching the kiddos.

The kids were thrilled to have such a fun playmate.

Jenna & Wyatt were in town to buy up fire arms & stock for their Utah gun & camping store: Gunnies. Jeff & a couple friends joined her at the gun show. They came home with many free hats, toys & stickers...

So the got sig? is refering to Sig Sauer - a pricy gun name. We told Ty to pretend he was holding a gun for the photo (great parents huh?). This was the best he could do...yes, we are posers.
It didn't take long for the couch & Sydney to also be covered in stickers.
It was great to see you Jenna & Wyatt. Hope you'll be back real soon!!