Changes

Well we've done it, we switched Meili from her crib, which we need shortly, too her own toddler bed. I cannot believe how amazingly well she does with it. She has never once got out of bed, even for naps, and she doesn't even stand up like she used to in her crib. I don't know what it is, but I'm calling it a blessing! She is still napping! Yey for my sanity :) We had to buy a new one, and ended up with a cherry one off of craigslist($25, I love CL!!!), which we actually gave to Kai to help him feel special during the switch, Meili only cares that her bed has pink sheets :)
Over the weekend we were lucky to have a couple days off and went to Mesquite to see Matt and Sarah and hang out with Rich's step brother Jordan and Amanda. Their kids our exactly our kids ages. We have such a great time wtih them. We stayed in the same hotel and everyone took the kids swimming together and did some park hopping as well. We have reached a new park record... 4 1/2 hrs... It was a great park needless to say! The kids had a wonderful weekend and we brought them back exhausted! The Mom's even got to sneak away for a movie night, it was great!
We had our first date 9 yrs ago on Valentines Day, so it is a special day for us. I had the kids help me make sugar cookies, which is extremely touch and go, and I also made some chocolate covered strawberries. For dinner I picked up some steaks and lobster tails (living it up while we still can). It was sooo yummy! Then Rich came home and informed me he had called Katie (his cousin) to come watch the kids so we could go see a movie. It was an awesome night! We saw a great movie together that we were literally laughing so hard together our stomachs hurt. When we are together everything is better. Love you honey and love u babies. Happy 9 yrs!
Don't know if u can see it or not, but I did her hair in little twisted hearts for vday, it was pretty sweet!

Gparents

My parents came in for a long weekend and it was so nice! Rich worked a lot so we were able to keep busy with them. We spent our time at parks, Mcds, eating out, cleaning, ipoding, and just hangin out :) The kids enjoyed it so much, Kai had lego buddies and Meili had someone other than me read the same book to her over and over again! It was nice for all of us :) My mom is so great at motivating me, ok well, she did most of the work herself, but she helped me organize the kids' closet and get out all the baby boy clothes and go through them. Now they are all organized and I can actually see inside that closet! Huge weight off my shoulders! I think it has started my inner nestingness, cause I totally went on a cleaning spree today. It was so great to have them come and can't wait till next time, which will most likely be baby time! Oh and here's a couple of things I made over the weekend. Yes, my Dad used to be in the printing buisness and had letter stamps! We rocked it :)

Drum roll please....

I'm so excited that I've finally got the quilt off the quilt frame! Here's a before and after shot! It only took me 3 weeks, now I just have to finish binding the edges. I can't believe that I actually finished it that quickly :) So exciting!

I am officially 31 wks and the countdown is on! The kids are getting so excited and the belly is getting sooo big! The baby is literally kicking the crap out of me. He is so active and really strong! It's freaking me out a little bit.
Meili is growing up. She's talking almost perfectly and loves to read. Honestly, she carries books around all day long begging me to read to her. She loves drawing and reading. Girls are so different than boys. However, she has so much boy in her still. I try to get her into being girly, she loves nail polish, but she'd so rather dress up as darth vader or a lion than a princess. Here's a photo exemplifying her inner boy...
Kai is reading 5 and 6 letter words now and is really growing (not physically of course haha). He loves challenging himself and is able to read some small beginner reader books. He thinks he is the coolest thing! He is so ready to go to school it's rediculous. We will miss him when he goes to k-garten :( He loves friends and being social. He also loves to sleep with stuffed animals, I'm talking like 20 of them, poor kid there is no room for him in the bed!!! hilar...

We got to see the cousins over the weekend and they had a great time together. We had an awesome date night complete with dinner and the temple thanks to uncle meich and aunt sarah! We did trade offs and it was great! It's honestly been a while since we went out alone and it was so nice :) The kids had so much fun together. I wish I would have caught the kids playing on the tramp on video. It was so much fun. They put tons of plastic balls on the tramp and the daddies threw big balls in the air trying to nail the kids, then they had to roll around playing dead if they got hit by the 'fire bombs'. Fun for all ages right?? Meili kept running around saying 'look out below for the fire bombs!' It was hilarious to watch and even more fun for the kids. Great weekend. We are trying to soak up these precious last 2 months with them before it all changes again...!!!!

The Dam Bridge ;)

This last weekend Rich's Dad and brother came down and we had a great weekend together. We spent some time in a hotel and rented a movie for the kids complete with movie theater popcorn :) The next day we went to see the new bridge over the dam. Kai (thanks to uncle Meich) kept walking around with his 'dam map' showing us where to go :) It was so high! and seriously intense walking across the bridge, but it was such a cool view. The kids even got to lay in 2 states at one time. They were pretty excited about that :) We let the kids run off some steam afterwards at a park and had a great dinner to finish off the evening. It was great fun with cousins and Gpa and hope we can do it again soon :)

New slide show :)

Basketball Baby...

I literally feel like I'm lugging around a basketball in my belly. I honestly feel like there is not much room left in there and can't believe that I'm only 28 wks and my due date isn't until April 3rd. We are definitely going to have to do something about that... The kids are getting so excited, they ask to hold the belly and kiss it goodnight everynight. They are asking me daily if they can hold the baby when he comes out. They are very sweet and if I wasn't so darn huge, it just might be more fun. Here's to hoping I don't just pop...

I just finished this blanket for him, turned out great, thanks for the fabric momma :)
Just thought I'd add a picture of our naptime ritual. Kailer has to read Meili a story, and right now her fav is Fred and Ted go camping, which is odd, because it also used to be his favorite. She even reads it back to us, just like he used to. It is so sweet and I love getting it on video :)

Xmas Vacation

We were able to drive to Utah and spend time with both of our families for christmas. Rich got home and we did our own family christmas here before we left. It was so much fun concentrating on just the kids and doing our own family traditions. We made some cookies and left them out for Santa and went out on the balcony to look for rudolph's nose. Low and behold there it was! A red blinking light on the side of a far off airplane. The kids were convinced it was Santa and had a twinkle of fear in their eyes as they ran to bed, yes Meili is still not completely convinced about Mr. Clause. Oh, and I was informed by Kai that the Santa at Bass Pro was just someones Daddy. Yes... it is starting already! Christmas morning was full of so much excitement and fun as they played with all their new things. Then we packed up and headed to Ut. We spent the first week with my family in Saratoga and then spent a couple days over new years with Rich's family in Price. We played tons of games, ate great food, and just enjoyed family and cousins. It was a great vacation and we are sad it is over, but so grateful our Daddy is home and here to stay! These next few months are going to be full of changes and we couldn't be more excited for the ride :)

Meili was and is still so excited about her princess nail polish :)I totally can't get enough of excited xmas morning faces, Kai ran around all day saying 'This is the best day ever!'Sledding and eating snow at aunt shels :)Introducing... Cohen! Kailer's new favorite toy :) My sister had her baby and he literally could not get enough of him. Sometimes he would hold him longer than some adults! He couldn't stop smelling him. He loved it and cannot wait for our little man to come. Meili was excited too, she is wild though and unconscious... we are going to have to watch out for her...Princess' bathing at the Holts! Meili loved swimming with her cousins and the entire set of pics I took were absolutely hilar. It would need it's own blog entry :)The gaming boys...And last but not least... Daddy :)