Spring has Sprung

Well after a month of gloom the sun is certainly shining now and Spring is in full effect! February has ALWAYS been my least favorite month and this past feb. probably the worst of all, however the last day of the month which also happened to be leap year did not disappoint! It was gorgeous and 75 degrees outside, mommy is all better and we just played, played, played. We started off the day looking for roly poly's and collecting them in a jar and then we did some side walk chalk and some races and all sorts of fun outside time. We were all in heaven!


JJ says the roly poly's are his buddies. Calli likes finding them too and looking at them but she is not all about touching them. I am with her. JJ on the other hand LOVES to catch them and touch them.

I love this pic, he posed like this all by himself and then told me to take a picture. So cute and so GQ! He even has is little mans bag with his important stuff inside. :)

Then of course Calli had to pose for a picture by her special rainbow! These two are sure not camera shy.

I am sooooo looking forward to many, many days like this over the next few months and am even getting excited for the hot summer and lots of time swimming at the pool! Yay for Winter to be over!!

Crazy Feb

So I have mentioned in the last posts a little bit about me getting sick this month, but let me tell you I was totally knocked off my rocker. I am usually a super healthy person. I try to eat right and exercise regularly I rarely get sick and if I do it is usually like a minor cold that lasts a couple days or a 24 hour bug. Well my kids got little colds at the beginning of the month with a little cough and a little runny nose so when I started to get a cough I thought oh it is my turn for a couple of days. I had no idea what was in store for me. I do know that when you are pregnant it can be harder to fight things and that a symptom of pregnancy can be clogged sinuses which I have had with all three babies, for some reason my ears get clogged a lot but I have never had an infection.

Well I woke up Feb 11 the day of the baby shower I was throwing for my friend KC, not feeling super great and with a cough. That was also the week I had my big dinner group my partner and I were hosting so I thought to myself I will be sick for a couple of days and then all better by Thursday when we had our dinner. Saturday night John and I went out on a date to celebrate Valentines day a little early and I was ok but coughing up a storm. Sunday I woke up not feeling great but went to sacrament mtg. and then came home early with Calli since we both had a cough to take naps. Then Monday I woke up with a full fledge head cold and not feeling great. I kept thinking this wouldn't last long so I went about my day doing laundry and grocery shopping since I had to get everything for the dinner on Thursday. Then Tuesday came which was Valentines day and I was a total loser and didn't really do anything special like I had planned because by now I had hardly slept for a few days and was NOT getting better. I did make a nice dinner, which was also my test run for the dinner on Thursday, but besides that was worn out. The kids and I had made some valentines crafts the week before I got sick so we gave those to each other and daddy came home early from work and surprised us all with some gifts so I think my kids were happy! Well then Wednesday hit and I was officially MISERABLE. I couldn't talk, I couldn't breathe, I couldn't sleep my head was aching and I thought what is going on. The only thing keeping me moving was the fact that JJ had preschool and Calli had her play date at Skylar's house so I could get some rest. Well then as I was heading out the door to drop my kids off the preschool called and it was cancelled because her child was sick. I literally was devastated, I almost cried seriously. Needless to say we watched a lot of movies that day and my house was a total disaster but I was just trying to survive. My kids were so cute and confused as to why mommy was so out of it. I finally decided to call my ob that day and ask if I could take anything so John picked up some cold medicine and I took some tylenol and that helped a LOT. At this point I thought I was still just fighting a nasty cold so I thought there was no need to go to the doctor.

The next day was our big dinner which I didn't cancel because I had thought I would be better by then and we had put so much time and effort into it and at this point I just wanted it to be done so I took my drugs and was able to function with them even if I was a little out of it and we got it done! The next day however I was feeling worse again even with taking the medicine. At this point my face was really starting to hurt. I couldn't sleep at all because of the pain which I thought was weird. Even my teeth ached. I was totally aloof and didn't realize I had a major sinus infection that you have to go on antibiotic for to get rid of. So I spent all weekend miserable and thinking I will be better tomorrow.

Luckily daddy came to the rescue and worked half days on Thursday and Friday and thankfully this weekend he had off of school, otherwise I am for sure I would have died. He took the kids to all sorts of fun places on Saturday. As you can see they couldn't get enough of him. I was so sad to be missing out but so grateful to rest even if I couldn't sleep.

My kids also watched more TV and played with electronics more then usual but we were all in survival mode at this point. I was supposed to teach RS on Sunday and kept planning on it until Saturday when I just wasn't getting better. My sweet friend volunteered to teach for me and was a life saver. On Monday when I woke up again from not really sleeping and was still miserable and taking tylenol around the clock I decided it was time to go see the doc. I didn't brush my hair or put makeup on I just threw my kids in the car threw on some sweats and headed to the urgent care. I didn't look up a normal and make a dr. appt. even though it would be cheaper because I just didn't have the energy. I called John on my way to tell him and he said why don't you call someone to watch the kids and I had a little break down I told him it was too much effort I just had to get to the doc. at that point he was like I am heading home I will be there in an hour. I felt so bad he had to leave work early again but I was kind of a hot mess so I was so grateful for him. The doctor took one look at me and was like oh ya you have a terrible sinus infection and a double ear infection. He gave me some antibiotic and said in a couple days I should feel better. Normally I would get a steroid shot to start feeling better immediately but you can't when you are pregnant. I was ok with just knowing there would be a light at the end of this dark horrible tunnel. My parents came and checked on me that afternoon between their appointments and a sweet friend brought us dinner on Sunday and another friend did on Monday, and then another friend watched JJ for me on Tuesday during Calli's nap so I could take a nap which I did since the medicine was starting to work. I was hoping that I would feel better quickly but it still took a week to heal completely. But every day was a little better then the day before so I was grateful. My cold cleared up first so I could breathe and sleep a little more and the pain and pressure was a little less everyday. I couldn't believe how much tylenol I had consumed during the two weeks I was sick. I hardly ever take pain medication. In fact I probably buy a bottle once every couple years and have to throw it away when it expires still half full. Oh man not this time I was counting down the minutes until I could take them again I swear I went through half a bottle in those two weeks.

You don't realize how amazing good health is until you don't have it. I decided this experience was a blessing in disguise for many reasons but one I will share is that I had started to worry a bit the few weeks before I got sick about having another baby this summer during John's busy season and my mom on a mission and started to freak myself out a little bit. Well after surviving this I decided I can handle anything as long as I have my health and I don't feel so worried anymore just excited to add another little princess to our home. The Lord does answer our prayers in ways we don't always expect or that are easy. :)

Here is Calli and her new favorite past time while mommy was sick the iphone. She has two games she likes old mcdonald's farm, and the cup cake phone. She has started requesting her own iphone and she told daddy she wants it to be pink with sprinkles and sparkles. So cute and so high maintenance this princess of ours.

JJ is and was full of creativity while mommy was down for the count. Once I actually started feeling better and started putting my house back together I found all sorts of creations that kept my little man busy.

Luckily we didn't postpone KC's shower the day I started getting sick because little man decided to come about 10 days early! And luckily I was better so I could snuggle this bundle of joy when he came. My kids were also all about him as you can see. They are so excited for their baby sister to come they are so cute about kissing and hugging my tummy and talking to baby sister. JJ says the baby is going to sleep in his room and that we need to leave milk in there in case she wakes up. Calli says she is going to share all of her hair bows. Last Sunday we were at church and during the closing prayer Calli says at the top of her lungs, "I want my baby sister to come out right now!" It was pretty hilarious and pretty embarrassing all at the same time. Just 3 more months. So that was where we have been the last month, we made it through to tell all about it, and I am grateful to be healthy again and so grateful I have the BEST husband ever who drops everything to take care of me and our family!

French Cuisine

I have been a part of this gourmet dinner group with some other ladies in my ward for the past year and am having a blast! There are 10 of us and we are put together with partners and are in charge of planning and hosting 1 month, so there are 5 dinners total for the year. We take off the summer months and the end of the year holiday months. Last year My partner and I were in charge of September and we did an Italian theme. I am sad I didn't get any pictures but it turned out great and even though it was a little stressful, especially since we were both barely pregnant, :) I loved it!! So this time around I didn't hesitate to sign up as long as I could host BEFORE baby came along. My friend Amy was new to the ward last year so I talked her into being my partner this year since some of the ladies dropped out from last year due to babies and moving. We were the lucky ones and got to start off the year and host february. I was glad to get it over with because it can consume your thoughts so if we had to wait a few months then I know I would be thinking about it until the day.

We decided to obviously go with valentine decorations with it being in February and all and our theme was Paris and French food that being the ultimate symbol of romance. There are some rules of the dinner group you have to follow. You have to hand make invitations and deliver them at least 3 weeks in advance and you have to make a recipe book for all 4 courses and have a little gift to give. Amy made darling invitations and sugar cookies in the shape of the Eiffel tower. They were awesome she pretty much set the bar pretty high with those. Since she did the invites I was in charge of the recipe books. They are in the picture above. I thought they turned out super cute, the only problem was I had to finish them on the day of the dinner because I got REALLY sick the week of the dinner and had planned to finish them a few days before but was down for the count. Luckily I had finished the top and bottom covers before I got sick the week before so I only had to put the recipes in and it all worked out but way too close for comfort if you ask me!


The picture above shows our little favors we got everyone. They were little charms of the Eiffel tower to wear as a necklace. Also super cute.


I hosted the dinner at my house back in september so thankfully Amy hosted this one at her house because I had no idea I would be sicker then a dog with the worst cold of my life that turned into my first ever sinus infection the week of our big dinner. If I would have been hosting at my house I would have had to cancel for sure. Amy and I sat at the little round table and the rest of the ladies sat at the long table. It was perfect easy access to get in and out for us to serve the food.

I found the cute eiffel tower and heart valentine candles at hobby lobby and Amy found the paris plates at this awesome french store in town. I luckily already had all the red chargers from the last dinner and the carafes and Amy had all the silverware and glasses. I used the name plates from last year and just switched out the names of the 4 new sisters and then designed the back differently since it was Italian looking before and I wanted more French looking. I accidentally deleted the pic of the back of the names.

We made crepes with two different fillings for our appetizer. One with a chicken salad inside and the other with mushrooms and asparagus and a creme sauce to go on top. Then we served a raspberry sorbet as a palate cleanser before the sides and main dish which was Chicken Cord en Blue with French Boloungerie Potatoes and asparagus and Croissants. Then for dessert we had creme-bo-le . I thought everything out delicious so I was so happy. I did however decide I made way too much chicken. I should have cut the pieces in half because they were way too big and everybody only ate half anyway. Oh well, you learn something new every time I guess. Also for the specialty drink we served a red Martinelli since we don't drink wine. :)

So besides being super sick and totally drugged up it was a great night. And it was a relief to be all said and done of course. The funniest part was that with all the burners going and extra people and oven over 400 degrees the fire alarm kept going off the first 30 mins. It was pretty hilarious. Amy kept fanning it with a kitchen towel to make it stop. You always have to have the unpredictable moments to add humor to life and keep us on our toes I guess. I can't wait to see what everyone else plans for their month and it will be so nice to just sit back and enjoy the rest of the dinner groups this year!

Lovey Dovey Day

It is a good thing daddy played an unexpected cupid this year because mommy was down for the count! John surprised us all and came home from work early with 3 big presents in tote. One for Calli, JJ and even me! He is the best!!

Calli got a new bath time barbie doll that she loves and some M & M's, that is the kids favorite candy.
JJ got some kind of action figure, I can't remember his name right now but he sure was cool with two swords and everything! And he also got a pack of M & M's.

I got an awesome glass beverage dispenser thingy that I have been wanting for years. You know those ones that are perfect for parties that have the fancy silver little knob that turns to let the punch or water or whatever out. Anyway, we were all surprised and very happy. We have the best daddy/hubby ever!!

Homemade Glitter

While daddy was out of town in Utah we decided to get our Valentines juices flowing a little early and make some homemade valentine cards. We even got really creative and decided to make some homemade glitter. I just used sugar and some food coloring. My kids love to dye things and mix the colors up so it was a fun little, MESSY, morning.

Calli can't quite contain herself and keep the colors separate she loves to mix all the colors together so we end up with this beautiful brownish gray color. As long as she is having fun I guess that is all that matters right?!?

Here she is mixing the red and the purple cups.

Then we cut out some hearts out of some pink construction paper and used some glue to write our loving messages and then on went the sugar glitter.

I think besides mixing the colors that was their favorite part. I couldn't get them to stop putting the glitter on in fact. :)

JJ said he wanted to tell daddy he was #1 dad and Calli wanted to say I Love you. Their finished projects are pictured below.

I decided to make some for my 3 favorite people as well: Calli, JJ and John.

It was a super fun crafty morning. However I am not sure what makes a bigger mess, making sugar glitter or using actual glitter! I guess it is a good thing their is no crime in having a messy kitchen for a few hours.

Welcome Baby Parker!!

When John was in high school he had a good friend named KC who was sort of dating his best friend and who wasn't a member of the church. Well after their missions John and his friend James continued to share the gospel with her and she ended up joining the church. Well crazy to find out when we were moving to Texas John called her because he thought she had moved to the Dallas area as well. Sure enough not only was she living in the same city we were moving to, but the same neighborhood as well. I had met her a couple of times before briefly but it wasn't until we moved here that I really got to know her and love her too!! We didn't get to hang out as much as possible since she was working full time before her and her husband Sterling had kids but lucky for me they just had their first little boy last month so the party is about to begin.

Another lady in the ward and myself threw a little baby shower for her before little Parker made his appearance. Carrie made the invites and did the decorations and I hosted at my house and did all the food. I also did a couple of little games but I am not really into the whole game thing so they were very simple.

Here are two of the lovely ladies from our ward that came. There was actually a really good turnout, I was nervous because we didn't ask for an RSVP so you never know how it will turn out but there were about 20 people so I thought that was great!


We meant to get a picture with all 3 of us, KC, Carrie and myself, but this is the best I got. That is the beautiful mom to be's backside, (sorry about that KC) :) and that is Carrie and I am the one taking the pic!! We had the shower from 10-12 so I decided to make it brunch style. I made homemade Cinnamon rolls and had some fruit and cheese and crackers and humus and nuts with water and milk and juice to drink. I was a little worried about getting everything done with my kids running around that morning because John was in class but they were major troopers and kept it together for their momma!! I love planning parties but now the count down is on for our little missy's arrival so with the baby shower done and the French dinner group over my party planning and hosting will have to take a little break for a while I think! :)

Fun times with Chuck E

We had a nice little reunion at Chuck E Cheese the other day. For some reason this pregnancy pizza made me really sick in the beginning so I stayed away from the likes of it for the first half. But now since I am over the whole food aversion part of the pregnancy and on to the large and in charge part I decided it was time to head back. My kids of course had a ball. The only problem was that they have been so many times that I can't just keep the tokens any more and give them one for the rides and games they want to hold them themselves so needless to say I am sure we had some lost and wasted tokens but since most of them were free with my coupons I guess it doesn't really matter since they were having so much fun.

This picture cracks me up because of all the rides this is the scary one and for the longest time would make my kids cry. But now JJ is all grown up and not only likes it but wants to make it more of an adventure by climbing on the back of it. Yes he did get busted by the manager right as I saw what he was doing little stinker. He is ALL boy now and loves to live on the edge!


Calli was showing her affections for Chuck E and his home. She loves the live Chuck E as long as he is in the distance but when he gets close he kind of freaks her out. Her favorite ride is the bike that goes in the air but since I have to turn the pedals for her I can't take a picture at the same time.


This was our Friday adventure so of course our besties the Gaskells came and the Walkers too. JJ and Sammy were no where to be found the whole time unless they were mesmerized by one of the action rides. They look like little teenagers don't they? I love how the little sisters are watching their big brothers show them the way. JJ saw this picture on my phone and said, "Hey that is me and my buddy!" So cute.

Potty Time!!

How did my baby get so big?!? She is all about going pee pee in the potty these days. I'm not really potty training her I just ask sometimes if she needs to go pee pee when she doesn't have her diaper on like after a bath. She usually says yes and then runs to the potty and sometimes goes and sometimes doesn't. Sometimes she tells me on her own she needs to go and will sit and squeeze and toot and say all done. It is the cutest thing. The other night after their bath she was dancing around naked and all of a sudden stopped and looked at me very seriously and said I need to go pee pee. I didn't even ask first but she looked serious so we ran and she sat down and she was right! I was so proud of her I couldn't believe she did it all on her own. I have been debating whether or not I should just go ahead and potty train her now because I think she is ready and could do it or if I should wait until the fall right before she turns 3 like I had planned since the baby is coming and with swimming this summer. I think I will wait to aggressively call it quits with diapers until after the baby comes but I have a feeling it will go smoothly with this little lady as continues to train herself!

Out in the Wild

With a rainy day ahead of us we decided to head out on a adventure and the Indoor Safari Park. We have been there before a couple of times but it has been a while. My kids seemed to have remembered how much they like it though and had a BLAST!! Some of our friends were able to come too which always makes it more fun! They have these darling jungle gyms to run around in and climb up and slide down into the balls and trampolines to jump on and even a little mini golf course. For the most part they were thoroughly entertained however there were a few tears when Calli got stuck in a net at the top of one of the jungle gyms so I got to crawl up and get her and then JJ and his friends decided to have a war throwing the balls at each other which he thought was awesome until he got pegged. They healed from their battle wounds quickly and were off running again!

They also have this little train ride that the kids get to go on. The first two times we came Calli wouldn't go on it unless I went too. This time she didn't even hesitate or even want me to come. I can't believe how grown up she is becoming.


They even have fun little animal rides the kids get to go on. This was also a first for Calli. She wouldn't go on the ride the first two times and this time she made me wait in line for like 20 mins because she was so excited to go on the zebra. I LOVE that they get excited about doing these fun adventures. I have so much fun watching them have fun and grow and blossom. I had to bribe JJ and his best bud Sammy to come on the rides because they were off running around crazy and could not stop for a second. JJ kept telling me to feel his head because he was sweating so much! It was a great way to spend a rainy day. We can't wait to go back!

Feeling the LOVE

These two are quite the little love birds these days. It makes life so much more enjoyable when they get along so well. I love watching them interact and take care of each other. It is not so fun when they are trying to kill each other however and we have those days more frequently than I like, but for some reason I never think to pull out my camera when everybody is screaming and crying including myself. :)

I got into the car last week to head to church and turned around to see this. So cute. Our building is down the street from our house so don't freak about the lack of car seats.


We were getting ready to go out and about one day and Calli likes to have her nails painted before we go. Since I was getting ready myself JJ came to the rescue and painted her toes for her. So precious!

I think these pics are my favorite. The kids LOVE to get out of the bath and sit on Mommy and Daddy's bed all wrapped up and watch a show. Well for some reason Calli had never done this before but as soon as we put them on the bed she laid right down on JJ's lap. It was so sweet. JJ loved it too. He loves being big brother and taking care of his sissy pie, almost as much as he loves torturing her and making her scream. :)


And Calli sure does love her bubba's. Sometimes when I go to get her out of her crib she says no I want JJ. She is always so excited to see him when he gets home from preschool or when she wakes up. The other morning she woke up and I was still in bed so JJ took the liberty of getting her out of the crib all by himself. I don't know how he did it but next thing I knew they were coming down the stairs together holding hands.

I wish every moment was this sweet and harmonious, but who knows maybe I wouldn't appreciate them as much if I didn't have the moments where I strongly consider running away. hehe