She's One.

How can my sweet baby girl be ONE already?! I swear we were just barely anticipating her arrival. I think this has been the fastest year of my life thus far. Although it is so much fun watching Paige grow into her personality and become a young toddler, I am sad!

I woke up this morning and actually got teary from remembering this day one year ago. She was not born until 9:30 pm so at this time last year I was very anxious! My doctor had stripped my membranes at my appointment on Friday and said he would probably see me that weekend or even that night! So, when nothing happened all weekend it was hard on Monday. At my Monday appointment we set up an induction for Thursday. I was going to have to wait 3 MORE days! Ugh. Luckily, I could see on the monitor that I was having regular contractions. So, Mark and I went straight to the hospital. I walked around and climbed stairs for about a half hour then checked into labor and delivery. I remember hoping and praying that "today would be the day." Luckily, I had an angel watching over me. The charge nurse had quickly learned of my history and was going to do her best to help make sure we got to stay. While doing an exam she said my water was on the verge of breaking and then it broke... we were having our baby! After a short and intense labor Paige was born 2 hours later.

We have had so much fun with her this year. She is quite the little character. She was a big sweetheart and and a very happy baby. She is still very happy but is SO. DANG. BUSY! She is into everything and wants undivided attention at all times!

A little bit about her...

Her Favorite Foods: White Cheddar Puffs, Meat baby food, yogurt, string cheese, her formula bottles, fruit/cereal bars, graham crackers, bananas, beans (black,kidney), rice, chicken nuggets, or anything off of my plate! She is a really good eater so far and I hope she stays that way! She currently has 6 teeth!

Activities: She LOVES electronics - my phone, the computer (keyboard, on/off switch, mouse), wii remotes, tv remote, buttons on the tv. She loves when Carter plays with her. He makes her laugh the hardest. She loves pulling any and all items out of drawers in the kitchen and bathroom. She loves bathtime and going for walks in the stroller. She loves going down slides. She hates getting her diaper changed.

Her routine: She usually only takes one nap per day and sleeps best in her own crib or the car. She likes to have a bottle to go to bed with - going to have to end that soon. She goes to bed around 8:30pm and wakes up around 8:30am (makes up for her lack of naps during the day). She loves to have her mom hold her (so Mom has a hard time getting anything done).

Her Personality: Paige is generally pretty happy. She is quick to cry when she wants something - usually food or to be held. She loves to laugh and giggle. She seems to love her mama the very most and has a hard time being handed over to strangers unless she has already been warmed up to them for a while. She is very vocal and "talks" and jabbers a lot. She waves Hi and Bye, and Claps Yeah! She will also do the Muah sound when giving kisses. Sometimes it sounds like she says Yeah or Neh (no) when we ask her a question. She is into slapping me in the face right now.. when I am holding her. Naughty little stink!

Today when I woke her up... The Birthday Girl!

She couldn't wait for a cake pop! She crawled over to them and grabbed one and ate it for breakfast!

Carter was such a good helper! He wore his birthday hat and helped frost and put candies on the cupcakes.

My FOUR year old Birthday Boy!

 My little man is 4!!! I know probably every parent says this, but I can't believe my sweet little Carter is already FOUR! Sometimes I sit back and wonder how I got so lucky to have such an awesome little boy for MY son! He is sweet, kind, funny, smart, cute, and the list goes on and on. I am so proud to be Carter's mom.


For his birthday I stayed up into the wee hours of the night creating this awesome Peter Pan display. His request was a Peter Pan birthday. I LOVE how it all turned out and I had fun creating something unique (since Peter Pan decor is not that readily available). I got his poster and some of his books from ebay, and a couple more books from DI. I made his banner from one of the books I found at DI. Got the idea from Etsy but saved myself about $23. He got his Peter Pan doll and a stuffed Mater from Grandma Robin & Grandpa Mel. I got him the cardboard blocks from KSL because his friend Ella had some and he LOVED playing with them at her house, but guess what? He doesn't love to play with them so much at our house... Oh Well! 

I Love the way his cake turned out - the lady that makes them for me always does such a cute job. My parents got him a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse scooter and helmet and he loves to ride it!


We had his party at FatCats Bowling Ally and he had so many friends and family come for his special day! He got to bowl for two hours with all of his little friends then they rode the bumper boat cars. He got lots of presents and loved every minute of his birthday. 

Happy Birthday Carter! We Love You!

Sometimes Life is Hard...

We all get a little stuck sometimes..

but with some hard work and determination we can all get through it.

Valentines Day was simple and fun. Mark was gone (we went out for sushi the weekend after - our favorite!). I went to the store and bought the kids a ton of balloons. I just wanted LOTS of balloons! I left out Valentine hearts with a message to each of my loved ones along with a stuffed little animal for each of them and a few treats. Later that day we went to Carter's tumbling class - where he handed out all of his homemade airplanes. Then we went over to my parent's house for even more spoiling.

I wonder what Paige is thinking...?

Sibling L-O-V-E! (Wish this one wasn't blurry)

Yah, I made him pose like that... Sorry buddy!

When the husbands are away... the moms and kids will play!

 During one of Mark's business trips we got together with Amanda and her kids, and Andreanna and her kids. We had a Valentines Dinner  - it was the day before Valentines Day, and then we took the kids to Kangaroo Zoo. The kids loved it, and we loved it because they burned tons of energy and we got a chance to chat. Dinner was heart shaped pizza, salad, and yummy sherbet drink.

Amanda is lucky, she doesn't exceed the weight limit.. :)

Paige saying hi to Mackenzie

Carter is a crazy man at Kangaroo Zoo

Paige Loves it too!

All of the sweaty kiddos.

Wee!

Aww... cute moms!

Valentines Day Craft

For family night one night we helped Carter make these Valentines Day airplanes to give to all of his neighborhood friends and his friends in his tumbling class. He had fun making them and wrote his name on every single banner. He is really good at writing his name and loves to do so any chance he gets. He also really loves to do "projects" and art. I loved doing that stuff when I was his age too. My favorite subject in Kindergarten was art. His dad has the real art talent though, so we will see if Carter got some of his dad's talent too. I hope so!

Crib Story

Look at that cute little stinker! Such a big girl... I have a sad story about Paige and her crib. So, one day Mark and I were trying to get the house cleaned up because we had some company coming over. Mark was holding Paige while I was in the laundry room. I was pretty distracted with what I was doing. I could hear Paige crying but assumed she was with Mark crying or that he had put her in her crib and was letting her cry it out for a minute. Carter kept trying to tell me something so finally I said, "what?" He told me that Paige was out of her crib. Next thing I know Paige is crawling around the corner with her little head down, crying. Saddest. Thing. Ever!! She had fallen out of her crib! I hurried and swooped her up into my arms and asked Mark if he had in fact put her in her crib, which he had. I checked her out all over and she seemed fine. She stopped crying reasonably quick too. I felt so bad though. Mark lowered her crib that day and we have had no more incidents.

Carter NEVER fell out of his crib once. He was in his crib until he was almost three. He liked it, and he never even attempted to climb out. I think it just goes to show the difference in their personalities. She seems to be very ambitious and has no fear. I just hope that personality trait doesn't get her hurt in the future. I don't know if I can handle it! I hate seeing my kids hurt!