Visiting Aunt Kaeli

Last week we decided to take a day trip up to visit my sister Kaeli on her day off. Jade absolutely loves Aunt Kae and has so much fun with her. We started off the day by having lunch at a fantastic hamburger place with Kaeli and her husband Troy and then we played at the park for awhile. It was super hot so we decided to go back to Kaeli's house and rest. I was brave that day because Jade did not take a nap on the way down in the car like I thought she would but she did pretty well, only a few crazy moments. While we rested she watched Toy Story 3 and Aunt Kae painted her toenails for the first time. I was amazed at how still Jade sat there. When they were done and even to this day Jade will look at her pink toes and say "ooooh, pretty, Kae." It is so cute!
Later that day, we went to feed the ducks. On the way to the pond, guess who fell asleep? Yep, sure enough she just couldn't keep her eyes open one more second.
After a five min. snooze we took her to feed the ducks. She had lots of fun and even remembered to eat some for herself too!

Kiera's Blessing

We blessed little Kiera on June 12, it was a very special day for our family. We had lots of fun with all the family that came and ate lots of good food!! Thanks everyone!

Daddy, Kiera, Mommy
Our little family, this is what Jade does now in most pictures. She can't sit still! Oh well, that's our big girl!

Jade always has lots of kisses for her little sister.

Sisters
Yes I know Jade is not wearing a shirt, you will see in a few pictures why it is off...

Our sweet, pensive, pleasant baby girl

There was lots of fun to be had with so much family around.

We decided to use the leftover chocolate from my sister's wedding as part of our dessert. Well this is what you get when your almost 2 year old discovers the cups full of chocolate on a table that she can now reach!!

Yummy!! Gotta get every drop!
Look at her point that finger, she is saying don't touch my chocolate!


Wagon rides with Uncle Cole...

My Dad was a kid magnet as he played with all the girls...

3 generation photo with Ben, Kiera and his Mom

4 generation photo with Me, my Mom's mom, Kiera, and my Mom

I love the little girls in this picture with all their grandparents. Look closely at Jade and Maddi...I promise they had fun!

A rare shot, Kiera with all 10 of her living Grandparents/Great-Grandparents. So awesome that she has so many left to grow up with.

Lot of swinging on the hammock....

4 generation photo with Kiera, Me, my Mom's Dad, and My Mom

Ready, set, slide.

Jade had so much fun with her cousins today.



And one of the funniest pictures to me is Grandpa trying to sneak some goodies and chocolate...




Too bad Grandma caught him!

Smiley Kiera

Kiera has really been growing fast lately. She is starting to gain lots of cute baby fat rolls. Here are some pictures of her just being her happy smiley self!

I love this "deer in the headlights" look as well that she gives quite often...

This was her first bath in a baby tub. I guess I just find it much easier to sponge bathe her because she was two months old before we pulled out this tub. She rather enjoyed being in the warm water.

The Dress and Pretend Phase

I think we have officially entered a new phase at our house. Jade is now pretending to do things. She carries her baby doll everywhere with her and makes it do everything she sees me doing with the real baby. It is super cute and she is such a good little mommy! Here they are playing outside at her table.

And she is also in the "I only want to wear dresses" phase, who knew a kid of mine would only wear dresses!! This is funny to me because I only wear them when I absolutely have to! Below are several dresses she has to wear, she looks so stinking cute in them!! I think we have a little lady in the making!

And what happens when we wear shorts and dresses in the summertime, combined with a very rambunctious and active toddler? You guessed it, lots of scrapes and bruises!!

This red dress is my favorite and a great color on her. I also wanted to show off the Capri Sun couch that Ben built for her. He made it using only capri sun boxes and half a roll of packing tape. Considering we got the boxes for free I would say it was the cheapest couch we have ever bought!! Jade absolutely loves it and sits/stands on it whenever she is in the living room.

Saturday in the Park...

This past Saturday Ben and I took the girls on a walk, it was super hot and so we decided to stop and play at the park. Jade loves the park and has now started to recognize them from far far away. She will spot the colors or the slide and yell "side (for slide) or "bus" (because there happens to be a bus that she can drive at this park). She will not be quiet or stop shouting until we let her out to play. This time we finally got a video of her on the big slide with Daddy. Jade has non-stop energy and will run and run until she drops at night!

All dressed up and ready to go...notice the doll...this thing now goes everywhere with us. Jade has her baby to take care of and I have mine. It is cute to see her be a little mother! I am now realizing and noticing all the little things I do as she does them to her doll. It's like looking in a mirror!

The bus

Just had to be wherever Daddy was...

"side"

Taking a rest...

The big slide...I was so impressed as Jade climbed up this all by herself, with Ben following of course. Then she was not scared at all to go down with him.

Chillin' at Home

The girls and I have been having a lot of fun this summer. We pretty much stay at home and hang out in the back yard when it's nice weather. We go on walks to the park or the store and have been making some fun stuff as well. Jade is finally enjoying putting puzzles together and is working on learning her shapes. She sometimes likes to color but after awhile she gets curious and tries to see what else the crayon will color on (a.k.a the kitchen tile)!

One afternoon we made apple fruit leather in our new dehydrator that we got for Christmas from my parents. I was so excited to finally try it out and make some healthy snacks for Jade. Needless to say she absolutely loved it and now calls it her apple snack.

Jade has also been loving to climb in and play in boxes lately. It is cute to watch her take her toys and doll in there and talk and play.

It has been great weather lately, not too hot not too cold, so we can go outside.

Kiera just chillin' in her bouncer...

Jade playing in the sandbox...

and being such a good little mommy to her doll...