New Photos of Kids

Thanks to Amanda Laing Photography, I got some wonderful pictures of my kids. She did an awesome job. I really do have some cute kids. I am a little bias, but that's okay, I can be when there my own flesh and blood.

Parker's 3rd Birthday

It is hard to believe that my baby is three. Parker turned 3 on Saturday. We celebrated by inviting my family over for a BBQ. Parker loved all the attention and has been talking about his birthday for over 3 weeks. He kept wanting to hold his birthday. I don't think he quite understood exactly what a birthday is. He would hold out is hand and say, "I wanna hold the birthday". It was too dang cute. Here are some pictures from his party.

1st day of 1st Grade

Maisie was so excited to go back to school. She is loving 1st grade. She is making new friends and loves her new teacher. She says the stuff they are doing right now is way to easy. I think they are just refreshing what they learned last year. Here are some pictures from the first day. She is all grown up.

Trip to Discovery Gateway

Some of the family decided to make a trip to Salt Lake to visit Discovery Gateway. We got a late start when Shanna blew a tire on the freeway. Thankfully, no one was hurt. Good thing Jarom decided to come along so he could change the tire. It took us awhile to find someone that carried the size of tire, but we finally found one and were on our way. Can I just tell you I hate Salt Lake? The Gateway parking lot was so confusing to me. Shanna and I were so lost, when we came out of the parking lot. It took us a little bit to figure out where we needed to go. The kids had fun and that's all that matters.

Pictures:

Cousins

We all gathered at my parents house yesterday for dinner. We had to dig out the camera's for all the new babies and grandkids. I can't believe how the family is growing. Here are a few pictures:









Bree Anderson (4 weeks) Tyson Julander (4 days)



Lucas Julander (6 months), Bree Anderson (4 weeks), Tyson Julander (4 days), Jaxon Julander (4 months).

Week of Vacation

So I had a little forced to take a vacation week last week. Regina, daycare provider, took a vacation to visit family so I took the opportunity to take a week off and spend time with the kids. Eric worked most of the time and was on graveyards so I tried to think of things that we could do away from the house so he could sleep. We went to the in-laws for the weekend and then on the way home stopped at Antelope Island and saw the buffalo. Parker absolutely loved the buffalo. He loves animals and is a true boy. Then I took the kids camping overnight. That was an adventure in itself. It was fun, but not a lot to do. The kids enjoyed being outside and playing in the dirt. Thursday, I went and helped my sister paint her baby room. We got both coats of paint on in about 5 hours. It went really fast with both of us painting. Then we had the 4th of July festivities. Three BBQ's with family and friends and fireworks. It was a fun and relaxing week. It was hard to come back to work after having a week off. Here are some pictures from the week.

Eric & Niece Rylee

Rylee was diagnosed with Leukemia in December 2008. She has really struggled the last few months, and hopefully she is on the upside. She is a strong little girl and a fighter. She still has the same little spirit and personality and loves her Uncles.

Grandpa's Fish

My dad and brother's went fishing in Wyoming this last weekend and caught a lot of nice fish. We had to take a picture with the kids to compare how big it was. Parker didn't want much to do with it. Looking at it from a distance was good enough.

Maisie's BFF & Last Day of School

This is a picture of Maisie and her best friend forever (according to her) Alondra. This was the last day of kindergarten.



Pictures of Maisie on the last day of school. She has changed so much since the first day of kindergarten. It is amazing how much they change and how much they learn in such a short amount of time. Good Job Maisie. You are an awesome little reader.

Backyard Finally Done

So we have been working on our backyard, what seems like forever, for the last 6 weeks. I think we can finally say we are pretty much done. There are just a couple more minor things we would like to do, but nothing to big. The grass is coming in good and pretty soon the kids will be running all over enjoying it. Eric can not wait to mow it. HEHEHE. He keeps threatening he needs a riding lawn mower and I remind him that he said he wouldn't need a riding lawn mower until the push one dies. And according to him, "It's a Toro so it will never die." I think he is eating his words now. Here are a few pictures.

Parker just being silly.

Parker is such a boy and is so silly sometimes. He was having fun pulling faces and posing for the camera.

Beautiful Weekend

This weekend was absolutely beautiful. Eric worked all weekend so me and the kids had fun without him. We went swimming on Saturday and Sunday we went for a mile walk each way to a park and had a picnic. The kids sure had fun getting outside and enjoying the sun. Here are some recent photos.






My two baldy's

Update on Pottying Training

Parker has been absolutely amazing with potty training. Eric and I keep telling ourselves, it shouldn't be this easy. It has been two weeks and I could count on one hand how many accidents he has had. (Other than the first day). He is now telling us most of the time when he needs to go without us asking. Yesterday, at Regina's he went in the bathroom and went all by himself and didn't call for her until he couldn't get his undies back up. He is such a big boy. I can't believe my baby is potty trained.

Parker vs. Maisie

Maisie does not have a chance. Parker was loving every minute of tackling his bigger sister.

Potty Training

Today, was day number 2 in a row of Parker wearing underwear. On Wednesday, Regina put Parker in underwear and he did really well so we decided to go with it. He was home with dad on Thursday and Friday and he didn't try to hard to get him to go. Yesterday Parker had a rough day, probably half and half. It started with a huge puddle on the kitchen chair while eating breakfast, then pooping in his undies, peeing on my ocuch, peeing in McDonald's, peeing from one end of my kitchen to the next. I think that was it. He really didn't go in the potty a few times. But we are happy to report today, Sunday, he has had no accidents. What a big boy. I can not wait until he is officially potty trained and will actually tell me when he has to go, instead of me hounding him every 10 minutes if he has to go. We'll see how it goes tomorrow at Regina's.

I love weekends

I just love weekends. Most of the time we just sit around and relax. Tonight I took the kids swimming with Jarom, Launa, & Dakota. We have gone the last three Fridays and the kids have really enjoyed it. We can go swimming at the University for free, so why not. Then we went for Ice Cream.

Right now, Parker is watching a movie and Maisie is drawing at the table. This is a typical night for us. Maisie could care less about the TV and Parker I can't pull away from it. We are in trouble. And then there is me on my laptop, I would die without my computer. And Eric, well it is 9:00 and he is in bed. We are such an exciting family. I think I am just about ready for bed too.

I am very tired and glad it is Friday.

Last night, I took Parker to instacare and found that he had two ear infections. He did not fall asleep until 4:00 a.m. I am staying home from work this morning in hope that he would sleep in a little. Well he slept til 8:30 a.m. Now he is just coughing like crazy. He just feels like crap. I sure hope he gets feeling better.

I get to go to lunch with my good friend, Christina. Thanks Tina for making time for me. I love getting together and catching up. You just need to work on your blog.

It's freakin' cold

Can I just say I am tried of the wet, sloppy sidewalks and roads. It is January and raining like it is April. Everything is a sheet of ice.

Well we have not been up to a whole lot. Maisie & I have a girls night out at her school tonight. We are going to dinner before and then we'll hang out at the school. Not sure what they have planned, but should be fun. Maisie is doing really well in kindergarten and loves school. She is reading really well and catches on to new words really fast. I am amazed at how much they have already taught her in five months. She is a typical 6 year old girl. Cries & whines a lot. I am horrible to even say it, but it is true. When I am so sick of hearing it, I find myself throwing a fit right back at her. She stares at me like I am ridiculous. It stops the fit. I am sure it is just a phase. She is absolutely beautiful and we love her. It is hard to believe that we really have a 6 year old.

Parker is a typical stubborn two year old. He has to do everything himself & refuses to be potty trained. A couple of weeks ago, we were just waking up and I hear him in his room talking up a storm in his big two year old words. I open the door and he is holding a diaper just yelling at it. He runs out of the room and into the bathroom and proceeds to tell the diaper not to go potty in the diaper to go in the potty. He didn't say any of the right words, but I knew exactly what he was saying. He was quite funny. He knows he is suppose to go in the potty, but refuses.

Between the two of them they keep us busy. They love to fight like siblings and tease each other. We have to tell Maisie that she needs to be careful, because he is going to bigger than her pretty soon. They are only about 7 lbs different.

This weekend I am throwing a baby shower along with the other women in my family for my SIL Kirsten. She is having a boy, probably the end of next week. I am so happy for her.

Here are Maisie's 6 year old pictures. She was so silly that day and had a lot of fun with the dress up.

Until next time.

Amy