New Year's Eve 2012

Tyler and I don't love New Years. I don't know why, but it is our least favorite holiday. So for this New Year's Eve we decided to keep it low key. We headed up to The Land a few days before and thought we could have our celebration up there. Craig and Terry were sick and they didn't come up until Sunday, but the Jones family headed up with us and we had a blast together. 

 We played out in the snow. At first Makayla was scared, but after a while she loved it. We bundled her up so much she could hardly move. 

 Daddy took Makayla on a 4 wheeler ride to see the horses. Makayla said, "Hi horsie!" and "more horsies"

 I braved the cold and took Makayla on a sled ride

 Which she loved!

 Then we went sledding down the small hill right off the cabin's back door.

 Makayla LOVED it! She kept telling us who's turn it was. Here's Daddy and Makayla going down the hill

Cader-Tot is too little to go outside so he got to stay inside and got lots of snuggle time with Mommy and Aunt Tracy.

We also watched movies together on the couch (Cader-Tot was asleep)

Then December 30 came around and we decided to have a early New Year's party. Since the kids are too young to stay up until midnight, we tend to celebrate early... this year at 8:00

We got all ready for the party. 

 Caden looks like he is ready for a par-tay!!

So does Aunt Tracy!

 Obviously Makayla didn't love the noise maker as much as I did.

 And this handsome guy is always ready for a party. He looks like he has two horns... He must be a Mormon.

 Grandpa Craig was excited for the party!

 Here's my crazy family all ready to count down the new year.

 And the Jones family. Poor Colton was not feeling well and he fell asleep at 7:00. We still wanted him to be a part of the party, so we put a party hat on him and a noise maker in his hand, you know, so he could party in his dreams. :)

So sad, but so cute at the same time. 

 Grandma and Grandpa were all ready for the party, complete with their noise makers.

 At 8:00 we counted down and yelled Happy New Year, then we went out on the porch to yell and scream. Makayla was yelling and shaking her noise maker, and poor Caden just looked at all of us like we were crazy. After that we put the kids to bed and played BezzerWizzer. At 10:00 we were all ready to go to bed. It might be a lame New Years celebration, but we love it just as much as going out for a big night out.

This was such a fun way to celebrate the end of 2012. Last year my goal for 2012 was to slow down. I don't know if we did that with two little babies, but we certainly tried. 2012 has been great to us.We have a great life, a healthy family, two fantastic jobs, and a life we love, we couldn't ask for more! We can't wait for 2013 and to see all that life has in store for us.

Happy New Year from all of the Lurps!!

Daddy's Week Off

Tyler always tries to save a week of his vacation for after Christmas so we can just relax after the holidays. I love this vacation time because it really is a relaxing vacation. We did everything we wanted to during his time off: we relaxed at The Land, cleaned the house, organized, and made a new play room for the kids (pictures of the new room will be coming later since we're not completely done with it yet). We also took a day and went on an all day Friday Family Date to Discovery Gateway's Children's Museum. 

Here's a few pictures from our day: 

Makayla's favorite part was playing the the water fountain

She also loved the store. She pushed her shopping cart all around the place

 Then she checked out her items. When she is 16 and working at a grocery store, we will look back at this picture and say, "we always knew she was going to be a checker"

 She drove the cars

 Daddy is already gearing up to be a backseat driver

 We posed by the horse

 And this might be by far my favorite picture. I just loved the way she folded her hands like a real news anchor. Maybe she is destined to be a news reporter.

We also played around with the green screen. 

 Brother was a little too small for a lot of the things, but he did what he usually does when we go out, take a nap. He did wake up long enough to play for a little bit

 And of course we had to take a little lunch break.

We love spending time together and love that Daddy has a job where he can take some well deserved vacation!!

December Randomness

I have already blogged about all the fun things we have done this month, but here's a few pictures and highlights from the month: 

Caden is almost 9 months old and he is just the most handsome boy ever! This picture just makes me laugh every time I look at it. He looks a little crazy... he must get that from his dad. 

I keep thinking Caden is teething because he is always slobbering, but no teeth yet.

Caden has finally switched to formula. He did great switching and I think it has helped him a lot. I don't think my milk was enough for him. Now that he is on formula he is sleeping better through the night and hopefully he has gained some weight when I take him in for his 9 month appointment in a few weeks. 

Now that Caden is on formula, Daddy gets to feed him more which we all love. 

Seriously, how cute is he? Caden is so happy all the time. He is a really good baby and just goes with the flow. He never gets too upset when Makayla steals his toys. Speaking of which, poor Caden can't ever have a toy to play with because Makayla runs up to him and yells "mine" and steals it. But cute Caden just goes on to find another toy. Pretty soon he will have to learn to steal it back... 

Having all the Christmas decorations up was very tempting for him to play with, but he didn't make too big of a mess with all the new "toys"

 I don't know what it is with this warming drawer, but both Makayla and Caden love it. Caden learned how to crawl in it the other day and he is learning how to crawl out. 

What a good sport! I ran out of "boy" bibs, so Caden had to use Kayla's old one. Yet again, another disadvantage to having an older sister. 

Oh, you know, just hanging out on the stairs when I have a big bedroom and playroom with toys in it to play with. But who can resist stairs? He is starting to learn how to crawl up stairs... scary!

This little guy has been such a good sport. We have done so many things this month and he has been dragged all over town, but he is so good to just sleep in his carrier. 

Some other things about Caden at 8 months: 

-He pulls himself up on all the furniture and is starting to cruise. Walking is just around the corner!

-Caden got really sick this month. It was pretty rough for a week before Christmas because he was up every hour, on hour, and a few nights he was wide awake for about 2 hours. Mommy and Daddy were pretty tired at work from being up all night. I finally took him into the doctor and he had bronchitis. Good news, though, he finally recovered in time for Chirstmas. 

-I love when Caden wakes up from his naps. He just gets this huge grin when you walk in. 

-Caden loves eating rice cups. They are tasteless, but he loves them. 

-Whenever you hold Caden he lays his head on your shoulder. It is hard to set him down because he just loves to be held. 

Makayla: 23 Months

The first part of December was really warm. Makayla got to go out side a few times to play. She even got to color on the new patio

 She was showing me her baby in this picture.

Coloring is one of Makayla's favorite things to do. She was coloring her countdown poster

And one of the best things about Christmas is that Makayla gets to play with all her new toys! She loves this activity center from Carson and Colton. 

These two love to play on the stairs? Why? I wish I knew. 

Makayla was a really good trooper this month too. It seems like this is how we would find both of them when we would finally get home after all of our fun nights.

Makayla is learning how to put sentences together. Some of my favorite sayings this month are:

-She says "stinky bum" whenever we change her.
-She tells us multiple times a day " I pooped". A lot of times it's not true, but when she actually does she says to us "Mommy's turn". Somehow it is always Mommy's turn to change her... never Daddy's. Sigh.
-He favorite food is "butter honey" (Peanut Butter and Honey sandwich). She also loves cuties and tells me "I like cuties"
-Makayla loves to sing in the car. I taught her a few Christmas songs and she requests them. One of her favorites was "Santa Cause is" (Santa Claus is coming to town). If Daddy would sing it she would yell, "No, No Dadi.. Mommy's turn."
-When she gets her blankie she says "My corner"
- She is on this "I want it" phase. Sometimes she wants it and sometimes she doesn't.
-Makayla used to know how to count. Now she says "One, two, ten, thirteen". I think thirteen is her favorite number.
-She loves to brush my hair. She runs to the bathroom to get a comb and brush then comes running into the room and tells me "sit down".
-When we go outside she says, "I cold"
-She likes to do things herself, but often says, "I can't do it"
-The funniest day was when she was walking around the house yelling "Krissy, where are you?"

I love this age. It seems every day she learns something new. But Makayla can also be a little stink. She has been in trouble a lot because she won't share any toys with Caden. It seems like what ever Caden is playing with she runs over and takes it away. Sometime if we are looking she will give him a toy but as soon as we turn our head she takes it back. Welcome to the terrible two's.

And for randomness here's a picture of me blogging. Happy December!