Girls Day Out

My cute mom wanted to take all the girls in the family out for a fun girls day out, so we got tickets to Disney Princesses on Ice. 

Here we all are before we headed out. I love that Meg's girls adore our kids. Makayla didn't want to have anything to do with me as soon as she saw Hannah, Maddie, and Sadie. 

I love my little girl. She's my bestest friend! :)

 We made it to the ESA and found our seats. Once the show started, Makayla was mesmerized!

 Me, Makayla, and Hannah

 And Sadie and Maddie. My mom and Meg went to get us popcorn, so they missed out on one of my many pictures.

 We all loved the show, but remember how my kids are really scheduled? Well it was almost 1 (when Makayla usually takes a nap) and I could tell she was getting tired. I tried keeping her up, but I eventually gave up and this is how she watched the last half hour of the show. It amazes me what kids can sleep through. It was so loud in the arena, but she was out cold.

 She missed my favorite part where all the princess came out. But hopefully this picture will do it justice! :)

Thanks so much for the tickets, Mom! We all had so much fun!

Potty Training

We figured an event as significant as this deserved it's own post!!

We've started the process of potty training Makayla last month. I wasn't going to start until the summer when I was home with the kids all day, but after her 2 year check-up, the doctor thought she was ready and didn't think it would take too long once she got the hang of it. 

We went to the store and Makayla got to pick out her own big girl underwear and potty seat. She picked "Tangled/Rapunzel" underwear and a princess potty seat that makes noises. When we got home she was so excited to try on her new big girl underwear.

 Then we tried sitting on her potty seat. She didn't like it at first and had no clue what to do. We just let her get the feel for it. 

 The thing Tyler and I decided right off the bat was that we would not pressure her in any way, so it has taken a few weeks and a lot of bribing along the way, but she is getting close. In the beginning if Makayla would wear her big girl underwear, she would get a sticker. Then we moved into stickers and fruit snacks if she sat on the potty. Sometimes she just sat on the potty while reading a book (sounds a lot like her dad). 

 After a few weeks, and a lot of accidents on the floor, she still wasn't going potty in the toilet, and I was getting a little frustrated. Then it was like one day she just "got it". She started telling me she needed to go to the potty and then when I sat her down, she just went! She got to pick her reward and she picked popcorn and movie. So now every time she goes, she says, "popcorn and mermaid!"

She's almost fully trained at home, then we'll work on going potty at daycare, and finally through the night. Now when Kayla goes, she insists on getting herself on undressed and getting on the potty by herself. Just one more sign that my little girl is growing up!

She's even so big that she insisted on typing a message on her potty post: 

dgv zaFFZXIZIR3VF43FYRF

Stay tuned and hopefully in a few weeks we'll officially be a one diaper family!

Playing Catch-Up

January and February flew by this year. We have been busy in the Evans house with a whole lot of random things. Here's an update of our cute little kiddos from the last two months. 

Caden is almost 11 months old now and is as cute as ever! He is getting such a fun personality and is genuinely funny. Sometimes just the looks he gives us can crack us up. Caden has discovered food and how to eat by himself. He thinks he is pretty big now that he can eat himself, but some of the messes he makes are unbelievable. Well, see for your self...

Good...

 Bad...

Not really sure if any of this food actually made it to his mouth in this one.

We usually have to hose him down after each meal. 

Tyler and I thought about getting a dog for about 2 seconds until we realized we already have one; his name is Caden, and he likes to eat food off the floor. 

The binkie is Caden's best friend. Remember how he was so attached to it up until three months old, then he kind of abandoned it? Well at 9 ish months he fell in love with them again, and now we can't go anywhere with out it.

This little stink bug is so close to walking. He likes to cruise on all the furniture, even the toilet and piano bench. I'm a little sad for Caden to walk because that means my little monkey is getting bigger and more mobile. 

 I think our biggest struggle with Caden is that he still does not consistently sleep through the night. He does great for three or four nights in a row, but then he will go in these spurts where he is up every couple of hours and the only way to get him back to sleep is to have him sleep in bed with us. I think Tyler and I secretly like him snuggling with us, but we complain about being so tired the next morning. One morning I woke up for work (Tyler was already down stairs working out) and realized why we never get any sleep. Yep, that's Caden sprawled out on the bed, leaving only half the side of the bed for me to sleep.

I try to act angry, but seriously, who can resist this? 

But do you want to know the most exciting news of all? Last month two little teeth poked through for this little guy!

I can't imagine teething is a pleasant thing, but he was such a trooper through it. I'm sure it will get worse as more teeth poke through, but the good news is that having teeth means that he can eat all sorts of new foods!  

Some other things about our little Cader-tot at almost 11 months: 

-He jabbers all the time

-He gives the best kisses. 

-Still hates it if he feels like he is alone in a room. 

-Will eat anything you put in front of him... to the point that sometimes we have to cut him off. 

-He is so good natured, especially when Makayla steals every toy from him. He just goes off to find another one. 

-Loves to crawl in the bathroom drawers and oven warming drawer. 

-Loves to pull everything out of the cupboards. 

-Is still the cutest little boy ever!! I can't wait for next month when we get to celebrate his 1st Birthday!!!

As for our little two year old: 

Sometimes I feel like Makayla has two personalities. She can be so, incredibly sweet one minute, and the next minute she is screaming and crying. We think a lot of her melt downs stem from her wanting to be a "big" girl and she gets frustrated when she can't figure things out or when we try to help her. I guess that's part of toddlerhood, right? 

Here's some of the moments when she is being her sweet self...

Makayla loves reading books. I love to hear her when she pretends to actually read it. It sounds like jibberish, but you can make out a few of the words, then she always ends with "the end!"

Her favorite book right now is Brown Bear. We have read it so many times I have the thing memorized! But this book has helped Kayla learn her animal sounds and colors. 

Makayla loves to try to get herself dressed now. She loves to put on her shoes, jacket, and pants, and of course she loves taking all her clothes off and running around the house naked. Sometimes she demands that she pick out her outfit, or bows. Now we just have to teach her to match her clothes and accessories. 

Makayla loves "movie parties". Usually on Friday nights for FFD we have been having popcorn and watching one of her princess movies. It is the highlight of our week for all of us!

 Kayla really is a sweetie, but if it looks like Caden is having fun with anything, she is right there to take it away from him. She get so mean with him and even kicks and hits him. Needless to say, Makayla is getting very familiar with time out. She even gets her blankies and toys taken away. One day she told me, "I go to time-out now". 

 Makayla is also a really good helper. She loves to help us vacuum the kitchen floor. 

 And for randomness, here's a picture of her on a horse at the mall. 

Some of our favorite things about Kayla: 

-When she refers to herself or if she sees herself in pictures, she calls herself "Kay-bugs"

-She loves naming people in our family and the kids at daycare. 

-She tells us daily "Addie bite" (a little girl at daycare) but I think she just likes to say it for attention

-One day she told us that "Boomer (the dog at daycare) went to the bathroom... so funny!"

-She asks us all the time, "What doin?"

-Now she is starting to ask us "Why?" after everything. 

-When you ask her a question like, "who wants a fruit snack?" she raises her hand and says, "me, me, me, me, me!"

Yep, he's THAT old

See this handsome guy right here? Well the good news is that he is still as handsome as ever. The bad news is that he just turned 30... as in three decades old... yep, he's THAT old. We tried not to dwell on his oldness and instead focus on some fun parties. 

We got together with Tyler's family for dinner at El Rancho a few days before his birthday. It was Jeremy's birthday a few weeks ago too, so we got to sing multiple times during the night. 

Caden and Kayla loved wearing daddy's hat more than he did

They brought out fried ice cream for Tyler and Makayla helped him blow out the candles.

Then we went back to open presents and eat cake

My mom also had a party for Tyler with my side of the family. We had dinner together then opened presents and had dessert. 

Geez, he's spoiled! On Valentine's day I let Tyler open his birthday present early. He got a bouquet of 30 suckers with a home made card that said on the front "30 Sucks... but we know a way to make it a little better"

I surprised Tyler with "3" nights in Mesquite/Vegas and tickets to "0" at the Bellagio. Get it? 3-0?

So on Friday after he got home from work we headed off to Mesquite. The day actually started out perfect because Tyler found out that his company got the bid for a 13 million dollar job that he had been solely working on for months! And the president of the company said some very nice and flattering things about Tyler and his work ethic that got back to him!Needless to say, we were both pretty stoked!

On the way down we decided to stop in Richfield and see our old house. It was very interesting to see what the new owners had done to it...apparently some of the things we loved about they house, they did not.  After seeing the house, I was confident we made the right decision to move, but it was fully confirmed later when we went to dinner and ran into Tyler's old boss. That was interesting to say the least. We both left with such a strong verification that we had made the right decision. Don't get me wrong, I liked living in Richfield, and Tyler and I had some really good times there, but we were ready to move on and take on a new adventure and that weekend only confirmed it.

We finally made it to Mesquite late Friday night. Saturday morning was Tyler's actual birthday. We drove to Vegas and walked around the different hotels, walked the strip, played some machines and watched the fountains at the Bellagio.

We ate dinner at the Paris Hotel and some cute little restaurant where we could sit and people watch. Call us weird, but we love to people watch... especially in Vegas!

 Then it was off to "O"

Tyler and I have seen four different Cirque Du Soleil shows and this was by far my favorite!! They had trapeze artists, divers, synchronized swimmers, and body contortionists. I was in awe the whole time. Absolutely LOVED it!!

Sunday we spent in Mesquite sleeping in, relaxing by the pool, seeing a movie, going to dinner, and gambling. On Monday we headed back home. We had so much fun, but we were both ready to see our cute little stink bugs.

Happy 30th Birthday Tyler!

Look What He Can Do!

Tyler turned the bit 3-0 last Saturday. Wow, he's just growing up so fast

Height: 5'11"

Weight: 188 ish

Head: Big... but not as big as mine. 

Milestones: 

-Can fall asleep in under 30 seconds

-Hasn't mastered throwing his underwear in the dirty clothes, but is improving. 

-Likes to crack his toes consistently just to annoy me

-Favorite foods: #11 with Beef and smothered at El Ranch Grande, Macaroni and Cheese with hot dogs, and oreos. 

-Favorite t.v. shows: The Good Wife and Dance Moms

Enjoys: Eating and bedtime

Hates: When I ask him if he wants to snuggle. 

-What he wants to be when he grows up: A teacher so he can have summers off. 

So proud of my Hubby! He's just growing up right before my eyes. 

Happy 30th birthday Babe!!

L-O-V-E

This handsome little boy got to celebrate his very first Valentine's day! I just LOVE this little guy! He is the sweetest, cuddliest little boy and we just can't get enough LOVE from this little man.

 As crazy as they are, these two are my biggest LOVES. They make my life so complete. Here they are before leaving for daycare for the day. Do you know what I love so much about this picture more than Kayla looking off in the distance? The fact that Caden is playing with lipstick. (Maybe it's time to cave and buy some trucks)

Do you know who else I LOVE more than anyone else? This guy. Seriously. I won the lottery when I married Tyler. Not only is he handsome, but he is the best daddy and my best friend. I LOVE spending every day with him and knowing he is mine for the rest of my life!! 

When Daddy got home from work, we had our heart shaped pizza and cookies for dessert. 

Then we had to deliver our Valentine's to the Jones family and our parents. 

 We tried to be so sneeky and run away, but Carson and Colton are pretty fast and caught us right off the bat.

 Later that night we opened presents. Tyler got me a way pretty bracelet that I LOVE! Whelp, another Valentines is over and done, but we sure did LOVE it!!

Oh, and one more picture of Caden because he is just that stinkin cute!! :)