Taylor's Primary Song

Lately, Taylor has been walking around the house singing his own made-up primary songs. Here's one of his little creations.

Taylor's Potty Party

In honor of Taylor's major accomplishment, we held a "Potty Party" on Saturday night. We let Taylor choose a restaurant and we took the family out to dinner. I am honestly surprised that he chose McDonald's over Cafe Rio, but whatever. We came home, ate cake, and sang "Happy Potty to You". We might be a bit cheesy, but he LOVED every minute of it. He kept saying "thanks for the potty party" or "this is the best potty party ever". He's a cutie. I'm sorry if I disappointed you. The cake was not shaped like a toilet. I had to draw the line. But get it? Way to "Go" Taylor. Ha ha. Yes, I crack myself up sometimes.


Taylor started his potty training journey two years ago. Here he is as a cute little 2 year old. In the beginning he asked to sit on the potty every 15 minutes or less. It was a fun game to him.

Do Your Babies Do This??

Years ago when Derek was an infant, he would hold his hand in front of his face, rotate and stare at it for minutes until something else caught his attention. His uncle Doug used to say that Derek was thinking "Someday this hand will rule the world!". Here's a picture of Derek in action.Okay, so now guess who does the same thing?! My little McKenna is following in her brother's old ways.
Have any of your babies done the same thing or are my kids just brilliant? :) Maybe I should invest in baby toys.

Oh Baby!

I just had to share the news. Dave's brother (Jason) and his wife (Meaja) are having a baby BOY! This is their second child, but first boy. They are due in September.

AND my sister (Camille) and her husband (Brian) are having another GIRL! This is their fourth girl. I believe she is due in August.

Anyway, just wanted to spread someone else's news since I really don't have any of my own. :) Congratulations little mommies!

Way to Go McKenna and Taylor!

My blog has become a bit stale. Sorry. So here's a new post!

A couple milestones were reached this month. McKenna has been sleeping through the night (every night) for a few weeks now. Yay! Sleep! I just know that by writing about this it will jinx it and she'll be up all night from now on. :) I've decided to start walking in the mornings before she wakes up. I get enough sleep, so I feel like I can lose 20 minutes of sleep to exercise. Got to get rid of the extra baggage before swimsuit season. Yikes!!

Taylor achieved the other milestone. He's potty trained!! Yes, I know he should have been trained a long time ago... judge me all you want, but I am thrilled! He is so proud of himself as well. We've been working at it, on and off, for months now. So we are down to only one in diapers! Whahoo!

McKenna is almost 3 months old. It's killing me how fast she is growing up. She has figured out that she can control her hands and move them to her mouth. Much slobbering! She giggles and smiles so easily, when she's not hungry that is. And look at her beautiful eyelashes. She's our little beauty!

My Little Superheroes

Just a typical day of playing superheroes, but they are too cute all dressed up. I had to take a picture.
Strike a pose!
McKenna is blending into our family nicely. :)

How Do You Do It??

I could use your help. How do you get your kids to work? I need ideas for motivating kids to help around the house. What do you do? Any great chore charts that work for you?

Better than Money

A baby's smile is payment for all the care they require and it's better than any paycheck. Although, both would be nice. :) I love her smile. She grins so big and her eyes just light up! If you get her happy enough she'll even give you a little laugh. Too cute! I've had the hardest time getting her to smile for the camera. As soon as I put the camera in front of her face she is mesmerized by it and won't smile. These pictures are blurry due to the fact that I had to put my face in front of hers to get the smile and then quickly take the picture.
She's two months old and getting so big! I can't believe how fast time is flying by. I already miss "newborn McKenna". I love every stage though, so I'm just soaking in my time with her!

Here You Go, Christa!

Candy Bar Cake (aka Dave's Birthday Cake)

1 pkg. German Chocolate cake mix

14 0z. can sweetened condensed milk (optional)(I don't use it.)

16-17 oz. jar of caramel, butterscotch, or fudge topping (I've only tried the caramel)

8 oz. cool whip, thawed

8 oz. toffee chips or bits (optional)(I've done it without, but yummy with them.)

Heat oven to 350. Make and bake cake as directed on package for 9"x13" pan. Cool 15 minutes. Poke top of warm cake every 1/2 inch with handle of wooden spoon. If desired, drizzle milk evenly over top of cake; let stand until milk has been absorbed into cake. Drizzle with caramel topping. Run knife around sides of pan to loosen cake. Cover and refrigerate about 2 hours or until well chilled. Spread whipped topping over top of cake. Sprinkle with toffee chips. Store covered in refrigerator.

The cake tastes better the next day when all the caramel makes the cake super moist. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Dave!

My cute little hubby turned 30!! I can't believe how fast time flies. He says it was a great birthday. I had a lot of fun, so hopefully he truly did as well. Here's how the day went. His work gives their employees a paid day off for their birthday. So he was able to relax all day. After sleeping in a little, we went to Denny's for breakfast with his parents, aunt, and cousin's daughter. We sure enjoyed our time with them before they flew back to California and Maryland. Denny's treated Dave to a free ice cream dessert...thanks to my quest for something free. :)
After breakfast the boys battled with their new Nerf guns. (Thanks cousin Matt for supplying the fun.) Dave and I then played Settlers of Zarahemla where Dave won two out of the three games. I let him win of course. :) My sister, Stephanie, kindly volunteered to babysit for us. So we went out to an early dinner at the Macaroni Grill...one of Dave's favorite restaurants. And yes, I did get him another free dessert...a huge slice of chocolate cake. Mmmm. It was so wonderful to sit and enjoy each other without distractions from our children.

We picked up the kids and returned home for cake and presents. Dave has the same cake each year...Candy Bar Cake. Yum!
The boys helped him open his presents. Yes, that is yet another light saber, but this one is spring loaded. I caved. Well, the day was great because everyone was in a good mood and happy. I just love my David so much. I hope you truly had a great birthday!

The Blessing of Family

We were so blessed to be surrounded and supported by so many family and friends for McKenna's day. Thank you to everyone who made the trip out to be with us. Dave's parents, Dave's cousin (Matt), and my sister (Laurel) and her family came from California; Dave's aunt (Deanna) and cousin's daughter (Sadie) came from Maryland; Dave's aunt (Debbie) came from Texas; Dave's cousin (Shane) came from Idaho, and others drove many miles within Utah to be there (my parents, Thomas family, Visnaw family, Jeff, Jason and Meaja, Devin and Janene, Tara, Ashley, Tyler, Christa, and Bishop Smith). We really appreciate it!

Both sets of grandparents with McKenna. What a lucky girl!

McKenna with great-auntie Deanna, Grandma Judy, and great-auntie Debbie.

Here is a picture of McKenna , her grandma, and her cousin Madeleine. McKenna fell asleep while we were trying to get a good shot. Too much excitement for one day I guess.

Okay, so this picture made me laugh so hard. This is McKenna with her cousin Clayton. They are only 4 weeks apart in age. It was taken the day after McKenna's blessing at the luncheon for Clay's blessing. What a funny pair!

McKenna's Blessing Day

McKenna was blessed by her daddy. I was told that she looked at him like this during the entire blessing. So sweet.

Here are all the men that participated. Thank you!
A mommy-daughter shot. I am so blessed to have her!!! I just can't get over it.
Derek asked us last night "what does it mean to be sealed". We explained that because Mommy and Daddy were married in the temple we are sealed or "stuck together forever". I am so thankful that we are an eternal family.

Blessing Dresses

McKenna was blessed on Saturday following my nephew's (Jayden) baptism. The hours before her blessing I put her in the dress that I was blessed in. Here is a picture of McKenna on the morning of her blessing. And here is the picture of me taken on my blessing day in the same dress.

I LOVED shopping for McKenna's dress. My sister, Laurel, described it as "shopping for a prom dress". I think it was better since she wasn't able to voice her opinion and I didn't have to worry about modesty issues. :) There were so many dresses to chose from, but I fell in love with this one.
She looked beautiful! Dave and I couldn't stop saying how adorable she was.