July 4th... 2012 Style

Happy 4th of July! I love the 4th of July (maybe not as much as Karly, but close). This month has been pretty scary because of all the fires around Utah. It seems like every day on the news there is another fire that has erupted. We headed up to The Land the weekend before the 4th and I snapped this picture of the sun just before sundown. it is a cool picture, but pretty scary!

Despite the fires around the state we still managed to have a great 4th. Here's my two favorite boys! Caden seems pretty worried about the fire danger...

Miss Makayla doesn't seem to mind the fire danger. She's content with whatever we throw at her.

Saturday morning Tyler, Tracy, and I decided to run the Tabiona 5K. It was my first 5K and I was pretty nervous about it. I just didn't want to come in last place. We forgot the camera, so I didn't get any pictures of the event, but Tyler took 4th overall and 2nd in his division. Let's just say that I did not come in last place... but I was pretty close to it. I loved running the 5K and plan on running another race at the end of the summer.

After the race we got cleaned up and headed to the parade. We love the Tabiona parade. It is such a small town but everyone in town shows up for it. This was Makayla and Caden's first parade. Makayla looked pretty stylin in her 4th of July outfit thanks to Grandma Terry! P.S. Don't you just love her piggies? She actually kept them in for the whole parade.

Caden chilled in his stroller and slept the majority of the parade. His shirt says "I Love the USA"

Our family picture. Tyler and I are sporting our very fashionable and matching Tabiona 5K shirts.

The first float came by and threw out candy. Makayla was stoked to have free candy and didn't want to do anything else but enjoy her sucker.

Check out our stylin diva!

See how cute the floats in the parade are? They crack me up!

Makayla's favorite part about the parade were the horses. When we look at her Baby Einstein book at home she loves to point at the horse, so we thought she would love to see them in person.

After the parade (it only lasted about 15 minutes... perfect for little kids' short attention span) we went to the talent show. It was pretty entertaining. It was held in the church and the whole town was there. Makayla loved the cheerleaders. Their music started then abruptly stopped and Makayla yelled out "woah!". The whole audience laughed. Makayla also clapped after every performance... too cute!!

The rest of the time we spent doing some other fun things at the cabin. Tyler and I got to go on a 4 wheeler ride and take a lot of naps! We also learned a new game thanks to Jeremy.

The kids played on the swing set. Carson insisted on pushing Makayla. He is the best cousin to Makayla

Of course Tyler had to jump in on the fun.

We tried to take some pictures of the kids in their 4th of July outfits, but it didn't work out so well due to the 3 second attention span of our little tod.

So we enlisted the help of Grandma and Grandpa. But seriously, isn't this the cutest picture picture of all of them?

Later that night we sat around the fire singing songs. We did the Hokey Pokey and
Makayla got right in the middle of the action. Do you know what I love most about my in-laws? Every single one of them joined in on the dance and sang as loud as they could!

On the actual 4th of July we went to the Magna parade with Tammy, Karly, Rico, Ryan, Tracy, Jeremy, Carson and Colton. The parade was pretty cute, but long and hot and we ended up leaving early.

Here's my cute red, white, and blue family. You probably think we planned our outfits this way, but we honestly didn't.

 I think I have the cutest kids ever!

Later that night we went to dinner with my parents. It is getting harder and harder to go to nice places to eat with two kids. We wanted to try to go to fireworks that night, but Makayla was out by the time we got back to our house. Hopefully in a few years we'll be able to take both kids to the fireworks.

 Sometimes I feel like I never take any pictures of Caden, but he just sleeps all day. I figured there's only so many pictures of a sleeping baby that are cute. Here's a few pictures of our little man when he isn't sleeping. I love this picture of the two of them. Caden smiles every time Makayla comes around.

 Craig got Terry this huge bear for Mother's day. Caden didn't seem to enjoy having to pose by it. We took a few pictures of him crying before we consoled him. Good parenting, I know.

Happy 4th of July!

Updates for June

We have been super busy and productive so far this summer. I can thank Makayla and Caden for that; we're up at 7 every morning. It's amazing what you can get done in the mornings! The kids and I have had a lot of fun so far this summer. We have spent a lot of time on our swing set. Both the kids love it.

And the big kid loves it too!

I wanted to start a new tradition with the kids: Friday Family Date. Every Friday we go out on a date with the kids (now that I'm reading it, I realize it didn't really need an explanation). I'm hoping we can keep this tradition going and when the kids are older they will be able to pick where we go on our dates. For this FFD we got Cafe Rio and then went to the Herriman Splash Pad. Makayla loved it.

And Caden had a good nap.

FFD was great until we were pulling into our garage and Makayla puked all over our car and her car seat. We spent the rest of FFD cleaning up. Hopefully not all of our dates will end in throw up.

We have also been busy going for walks around the neighborhood

And helping Daddy water our new trees

Grandpa and Grandma Evans had all the kids over to play on the Slip-n-Slide

It was hard to tell who had more fun, the kids or Grandpa.

Makayla had her first t.v. dinner.

 Then we had spaghetti night. I think she liked the spaghetti more.

 Kayla still loves to play on her stair. And she is learning how to say "cheese" when I take a picture of her.

 Makayla is still the best little helper. If Caden is crying she will run to find his binkie or blanket. She was entertaining him while Caden was working on his tummy time. I think she is poking him in the eye, but it was the thought that counts.

We got a new iPad... well I should say the school got me a new iPad. I downloaded a game for Makayla (there's an app for that). She had seen me playing around on it and when I let her play with it, she immediately knew what to do. I think this generation was made for technology. Even at 16 months she knows how to work an iPad.

 June hasn't been all fun and games; Kayla got her first owie. We were at the scrapbook store and Kayla was in the stroller. She was getting bored and started standing up in the stroller. I told her to sit down, which she did, but then she started standing again. I turned my head for a split second to look at something and then I heard a thud and heard Makayla start crying. I picked her up, consoled her, and she laid her head on my shoulder and fell asleep. I thought everything was okay until I went to load her in her car seat and noticed her owie.

 Obviously Makayla forgot about it as soon as she had her blankie, but I felt like the worst mother.

By day two the scrape above her eye was healed, but below her eye looked worse. We can't go out in public now because people will probably think I abused my child. I know it is not the first scrape she will have, but I still feel horrible.

My favorite thing Makayla does is she likes to get ready with me in the mornings. I will put her up on the counter while I put on my make up. Makayla loves to look at herself in the mirror and pretend to put on make up too.

Some other cute things about our little stinkies at 16 months:

-She is understanding so many things and loves to play "where's the..." When we look through her Baby Einstein book she can point to all the animals, fruit, and other objects. She can understand a lot of simple commands

-Her vocabulary is increasing everyday. She can now say "mom," "dad," "nose," "mouth," "shoe," and "cheese." She also jabbers in her own little language that cracks me up all the time.

- She loves to waive at all the cars that drive by, or the airplanes, or the cashiers at the store.

-If she burps or passes gas she goes, "Wooah"

-She loves to go to Grandma's house to play.

-She is a really good helper. Makayla will get me a diaper when I change Caden, or help me load the dishwasher.

-She likes to pretend she is talking on the phone.

-She hates to have elastics in her hair. I will put her hair in pony tails and she will take them out within the hour.

-She insists on using a spoon when she eats and she is getting a lot more coordinated using utinsils.

-6 more teeth poked through this month... that's a total of 12 teeth now.

-Makayla gets slightly jealous if someone is paying too much attention to Caden and not her. And by slightly, I mean she screams and tries to pull Caden out of my arms.

As far as our little man goes, Caden is getting so big! At his 2 month check up on June 6 he weighed 12 pounds, 6 ounces (50%) and was 23 inches (50%).

Caden has not lost any of his hair. I love being able to spike it.

Caden smiles all the time now. His smile just melts me every time.

 I love about our little man's big eyes. I love when he looks up at me when I'm feeding him.

Some other things about Caden at three months:

-He coos all the time now.

-He is sleeping about 8 hours straight now. He will go to bed at 8 ish and usually wakes up around 4. I put him in bed with us and he goes back to sleep until 7 when Makayla wakes up. I love being able to have a good stretch of sleep now. Honestly, though, I don't mind waking up with Caden at night. It is the only time that the two of us can be together. I love holding him in my arms and rocking him while he looks up at me with his big eyes and smiles.

-We have him on somewhat of a schedule and a routine now, which makes things a lot easier.

-Caden loves to be wrapped up tight with a binkie in his mouth. Even in this hot weather he still likes to be

wrapped up. He will be sweaty, but he is content. I think that was part of the problem with his fussiness in the beginning. We just needed to figure out what our little guy liked.

-Caden is so good to put up with Makayla's good intentions.

-He loves to be held.

Tyler and I have also had a great June. We celebrated our three year anniversary. We went out as a family on our actual anniversary day. Tyler got me a bouquet of chocolate dipped strawberries, a balloon, and a really sweet card even though we said we weren't doing gifts.

Then the following Saturday we went on a real date. We went to a movie and then to a nice dinner. It was so nice to sit down for a meal and not have to fight kids to be quiet the whole time. We really lived it up, too. I tried calamari for the first time, had Oscar style filet mignon, and ruined my diet with dessert. It was totally worth it!

So is this guy! I'm so lucky to be married to him!

Tyler has been on a business trip to Canada this week. He comes home tomorrow and I can not wait!! This single-mom-of-two business is really exhausting. It will be nice to have him home to help me out, plus Makayla just adores Tyler and loves it when he plays with her.

There is bad news about Tyler coming home though,  I have to start making the bed again and I can't stay up until midnight blogging. The things I will do and give up just to have him home... 

Thanks for reading!

Three, Two, One

Three Years...

Two kids...

One happy life together!

Happy Three Year Anniversary to us!



We love our Daddy!

Happy Father's Day Tyler! Can you believe that we already have two kids? If I haven't told you enough already, thanks for being the best husband and dad! I love you!

We wanted to make Daddy's Father's Day weekend special so we started celebrating on Friday. When Tyler got home from work he got to open two of his presents early then we went to his favorite restaurant, El Rancho Grande. On Saturday and Sunday we had three different family parties to attend. It was a busy weekend but we loved being able to spoil our favorite dad!

Makayla absolutely adores Tyler. They love to watch Sesame Street in the mornings all snuggled up, play on the floor, or work outside together. Makayla is really "Daddy's Little Girl"!

 Even though Caden is only 10 weeks old, you can tell how much he already loves his dad. Caden smiles so big when ever Tyler talks to him.

 This is Kayla and Caden's gift to Daddy. I think it sums up exactly how we all feel about him.

I really can't say enough about Tyler. He is the BEST husband and dad. He works so hard at work and then comes home plays with the kids. He is so sweet to me and the kids. Every day when he walks in the door he is so excited to see Makayla and Caden. Tyler loves to wrestle on the floor with Kayla or chase her around the house and he loves to snuggle with Caden before he goes to bed at night. The thing that I love most about Tyler is that you know his family is his first priority. He loves to spend the weekend and every spare moment with us. We couldn't ask for a better daddy!

And as long as we're on the topic of great dads, have I told you how great of a dad I have? My dad is the best! Since I was the only girl growing up I definitely hold the title of Daddy's little girl. I remember my dad was always so supportive of every thing I did. He was at every single dance concert I was ever in. He would sit through three days of dance concerts when I was in high school and he never complained once! I remember my dad teaching me how to water ski, fish, change a flat tire, and check the oil. And even though I don't do any of those things now, I love that my dad took the time to show me and make me feel like I was special.

But not only do I have a great dad, I have an amazing father-in-law, too! If you are around Tyler and his dad for even a minute you can tell the special bond they have. Craig is so good to give us advice. If we are ever contemplating a big decision, we always consult Craig. He always listens to us and helps us feel confident in our decision. Craig is also so good to come over and help us when we are working on a project (and trust me, we have a lot of them!) Tyler and his dad are probably the hardest workers I have ever seen. I feel very lucky to have Craig as my father-in-law!

It was an...

Itsy, bitsy, teenie, weenie, yellow poka-dot bikini

That she wore for the first time today!

Thursdays are play group days and today we went to Rosecrest splash pad. Makayla LOVED it!

Why I Love My Job...

Today I finish my 6th year of teaching. Six years seems like a long time, but in that time I have worked for three different schools.  I taught for three years at Copper Hills High School in West Jordan where I taught 10th and 11th grade English.
 
When we got married we knew it would be easier for me to try to get a job teaching in Richfield than for Tyler to find as good of a job in mining in Salt Lake. We heard Richfield was a clicky town and everyone told me I would need "connections" to get a job there. I somehow lucked out and got a job teaching at Red Hills Middle School teaching 7th and 8th grade English. I taught for two years there before we decided to move back to Salt Lake.

By this time Makayla was only 6 months old and I had to decide if I wanted to work or stay home. It was a tough decision, but I decided that I wasn't ready to give up teaching yet. Tyler works incredibly hard to provide for our family and because of that, I don't have to work full time or even at all. I was so lucky to find a part-time position at Oquirrh Hills Middle School this year teaching 8th and 9th grade English. It turned into more of a 3/4 time position, but I still love the fact that I can get up every morning to get ready to go to work,  have some "adult" conversation with teenagers, and then come home and be with my kids. It really gives me the best of both worlds.

When I went to college I knew exactly what I wanted to major in, teaching. Sure I wanted to inspire the minds of tomorrow, blah, blah, blah. But my real reason for wanting to be a teacher was that I wanted to have my summers off. I have priorities, you know. I need to enjoy my flip flop summer.

The kids and I have big plans for the summer. We plan on wearing flip-flops every day, sleeping in (maybe until 7 at least some mornings?), eating otter pops on the porch, going to play group on Thursdays, meeting Daddy for lunch, playing on our swing set, going to the zoo, going for walks at night, and enjoying every moment of our flip flop summer! It's a tough life, but we will somehow manage!