Almost the 4th

We headed down to see a local parade put on by the city! We were there mainly to see Ellie cheer in the parade...and collect a lot of candy. (which we hid from Crew, but he doesn't know that)

GG and Laney Kate 

I'm happy that I captured both of my kids attitudes in these photos. Crew did NOT want to be touched by GG and Laney wanted nothing to do with her stroller...or anything these days where we have to strap her down. 

Crew filled up his entire brown bag with candy. (mostly dumdum suckers...perfect for the plane ride home)

He was glad to have GG help him and his gramma of course. Laney finally settled down thanks to the sucker. Those things are heaven sent for babies this age. 

We finally saw Ellie on her float! She was 206 in line...which meant she was at the end...so no cheers from them! Crew was excited to see her nonetheless. (and she looked darn cute in her uniform. I can't believe how grown up she is)

I cannot believe that 4th of July is just around the corner. It kills me to see how fast this year has gone. I feel like I was just buying his little outfit at Old Navy...and I just did that this year too. 

We are surviving here in Utah now! Just kidding...we are loving it still. Our days are far from perfect though. The kids hardly sleep...and Crew won't go to bed before 11pm. He won't eat food...unless it's ramen. So I'm sure his little cancer cells are just building up in there. (so much darn sodium too. I'm honestly not that healthy...but ramen every night/day has got to be bad) His fits are outrageous because he is getting so much attention here, and there is so much going on. I'm pretty excited to get back to our quiet apartment. I'm looking forward to a bedtime routine again...which will probably take the rest of the summer to establish...and then we gotta figure it out again in Arizona. (summer sales life is so fabulous with children.) I'm looking forward to time alone. That is key to making sure I don't get checked into some hospital. Seriously folks. That's the reason my kids will always have a bedtime...I need a few hours alone before I go to sleep or I'll go insane. We are really missing Alex right about now! Such mixed feelings with life. If he was in school or some other job, I know we wouldn't see him a lot either. It's just this stage of life...but maybe we would have some Saturday's with him? Looking forward to the fall. That's all I can say. We are hangin' on! (don't mind my dramatic, hormonal self either. Life is great. We are blessed. Our kids are healthy. Bills are getting paid. We love each other!)

Happy Father's Day to Our #1

There have been so many thoughts spinning through my head as I have been thinking about this post. I am so sad that we will not be with him on Father's Day! At least he will get his quiet and peaceful Sunday nap without kids climbing all over him!

I love these pictures of him with Crew. He had been a dad for 24 hours in the picture above, and I remember waking up being so excited to put Crew in bed with him. It was such a surreal feeling. We were parents and he was a dad!

Unfortunately sometimes in the past I have taken him for granted and placed my work, or "job" higher than his. I have felt bitter that I am the only one getting up with the babies in the night, or spending time with them all day long...every single day. I have been upset sometimes that he can just have the freedom to go out with his work buddies, or to meetings any time he wanted. I felt like I was the default parent...and that didn't make me feel good. 

However, on the nights when he was out of town I missed him so much. He wasn't there so I could hand off the baby to him for a minute or two so I could collect myself. I didn't feel safe when we were home alone, and his presence was greatly missed. I took him for granted and that just made me feel horrible. 

Of course he wants to be with his family as much as possible. When I think about the heavy weight it is to have the responsibility to provide for an entire family, I am greatly humbled. I could never do what he does. I try everyday to make sure he knows how much I need him and appreciate him because he sure does that to me. Not a day goes by that he doesn't say "I love you," or "your the best wife and mom ever." He always takes the time out of his busy day to let me know how much the kids and I matter to him. That's why he is the best...for us. 

I have learned to not take him for granted at all. He is so committed to our family and providing the best life possible for us. I am so grateful for his love for the Savior and for Christ's church. He is constantly trying to better himself which makes me want to become better. I'm so thankful for the family we have created and for the team that we are. 

Alex,  

Happy Father's Day to the greatest dada in the world. We love you so much and miss you more than you know! We hope you enjoy your funny present when it get's to you! 

Love, 

Us

Avocado Toast

I decided to name this post after my most favorite breakfast, lunch and dinner...I am in love with avocado toast. So background story--I was going to do Whole30 here in Utah but that only lasted a day. Basically I suck at it...and it's very hard to do that strict of a program in someone else's home with next to no fridge space. So out the window that went...and in came avocado toast! I'm actually eating some right now. This week has been nothing short of crazy for us! With my brother coming home from his mission, to my mom's girls camp, to all of my photoshoot and then my kids decided to up and get sick. They both have a cough and horrible noses...so sleeping hasn't been on any of our to-do lists. I'm trying to get into a workout routine out here since my parents have a weight set in the basement, but not sleeping will kill ya. I have been doing on good some days---but other days I just stare at the stupid weights.

Crew has a baby doll that he claims is his...he named her "Arizona baby Hadley." It actually breaks my heart in two that the guy won't drop Arizona! He's obsessed! We gotta get back there. (baby Hadley is my cousin who he loves too) He puts the baby to sleep in her bunk bed (it's so cute and tiny) and then he carefully tucks her in and kisses her lips. I'm just praying that Laney will do the exact same thing in a few short months. (seriously we don't do barbies...they are sexy sticks with hair. weirds me out.) Crew still hangs out with the family way past his bedtime, but he sleeps in till 10am everyday. Laney has been up and down with sleeping too. (I'm just writing this so I can look back and ponder about how in the world we lived in my parents basement for 6 weeks.)

It's fun having Zach home! He was such a great missionary, and I know the transition hasn't been super easy...but he is doing great as long as he has his excel spreadsheet with his daily schedule written in it ha ha He wants to get married so badly too! It's weird that he has that green light. No one is stoppin' you buddy!

My favorite moments this week:
-putting Laney down for her naps or bed and she immediately lays her head on my chest and makes cute sounds while sucking her binky. Her body goes really heavy and literally melts into me. I love it so much so I take extra long putting her to bed. She has been so fun lately even though she is so sick.
-Crew saw me changing Laney and said, "ponytail! so cute!"
-Crew has had so much attitude lately but I don't know if I should discipline him or think it's darling. He is such a little salesman. Worries me!

We miss our favorite person back home (alabama) and are SO sad that we won't be together on Father's Day!

Found this gem on the computer. She was 7 months old here! Time is literally whizzing by. In just 2 short months we will be celebrating her 1st birthday!  

I stink at posting catchy titles.

We are still alive here and well in good ol' Syracuse! It has actually been super nice having my kids be entertained this whole week. We have been here for only a week---5 more to go! (I'm determined to not have to spend a ton of time in Alabama, even though I miss the hubs a lot) We have played at the splash pad, gone on a lot of walks, went to a cousins house, and played with the endless amount of toys here. Crew goes to sleep with me every night past 10pm...while watching a show on the ipad. Sue me. It's summer and we are livin' it up! (it's funny how I swore I wouldn't do certain things as a parent) Laney has finally started sleeping again despite the weird cold she has? or maybe it's her cutting her upper teeth. Who knows.

In other news-my parents city water tested positive for E-coli, and coliform. So that's awesome. I'm sure we are fine, but we were all drinking it before we knew about the findings. So give it another few days and I'll let ya know how we are really doing. Trucks are bringing in water like crazy over here, so we are stocking up! I guess this is where food storage comes in handy...if we had it. (well water storage) 

^^^ 2nd cousins? Not sure. It's my cousins baby. Not sure how that works.^^^ and Crew yelling at me to put him down because he hated the splash pad.^^^

^^^Laney after her 4.5 nap. It was 9pm and she was ready to party! Crew also got into Aunt Ellie's makeup ever so quietly. At least he knows where to apply it. Yikes. ^^^

Utah So Far

^^^post swimming hair and snack^^^

Our trip to Utah started out with a wonderful flight with 2 little kids who were so well behaved! They slept the whole time. The only sour part of the flight was when someone took my big camera charger and claimed it was theirs...oh man liars...they really bother me. So $50 later I now have a new charger. 

We have been having a blast here! Crew has been so entertained and there is a never ending tub of toys that these kids are playing with. There is also a never ending supply of neighborhood kids that we are loving! Crew calls them "his friends" or "the girls"

I bought a play pool to occupy our time here. I think that was a good purchase. 

We miss our hubs/dad, but we know that he is enjoying his clean and quiet apartment with a large amount of needed sleep. 

We also went to Jake's graduation, but sadly I didn't get any photos because Laney was a little but attached to me and cried the whole time. (don't try to sit through a 2.5 hour ceremony during nap time)

Despite that fact that Laney is a little sick and teething like crazy (which means no sleep for anyone) we are still having fun.