Merry Christmas

We had a very Merry Christmas this year. As usual, we all got spoiled and we came home with many new things that I am still trying to find places for! We spent Christmas Eve with Cam's family and here are the kids dressed up while we told the Christmas story. Both Isabelle and Maddie were Mary this year!

Here we all are in our Christmas jammies.


On Christmas morning Taggart actually woke up around 5 and had a hard time going back to sleep, then he finally did around 6:30 and then we had to wake him up around 7:30. I asked him why he had a hard time sleeping and he said, "I was worried that Santa was going to give me a bunch of coal." I thought that was adorable and he was pretty happy when he didn't get any coal in his stocking.

Parker was just thrilled with everything...can't you tell? He was very chill and loved all his presents now that he actually plays with toys a little.



We had a lot of fun opening presents and exchanging gifts and the we headed to my parents' house for brunch. There were even more presents waiting for us there! Maddie was very excited when she opened up her Dolly.


Taggart and I were playing with a couple of his new toys.

My sister and I both got new coats for Christmas. It was so much fun having McKelle home from New York for the holidays. My kids adore their Auntie Kelle and we were all happy to be able to spend a lot of time with her.

Maddie was happy to help Parker open his gifts from Nana and Papi. In fact, I think she opened all of mine for most of the day too! She and Taggart did NOT get tired of opening gifts, they could have gone all day!

Taggart and Maddie performed The Twelve Days of Christmas for everyone and it was very cute to have them sing and do all the actions. They thought they were pretty special!

And I had to include a picture of the 3 little babies all together. It is so fun to all be together and see how fast these little ones are growing. They are all such good little babies!

A couple of days after Christmas, we headed up to the cabin in Bear Lake. The kids LOVED going on the snowmobiles, even though it was VERY cold! Maddie kept saying, "I want to go again." Cam even got a little frostbite on his face from being out all day.

How cute does she look in these huge goggles? She loved them...
We spent a lot of time relaxing and getting warm by the fire. Here we are snuggling up for a good story!

Crazy kids in their matching Christmas jammies.

Cutest kid in the world! What a sweetie playing with his new toy. He is watching his crazy brother and sister. They just love to make him laugh!

We did have a great holiday, but is sure is nice to be home in our own beds with a normal schedule now. We hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Parks at 5 Months

I can't believe my little baby is already 5 months old! Just a quick little update about my favorite little man at 5 months.
He really is the best baby ever! I know I say this every month, but he truly is! He is just a very chill baby! He hasn't even rolled over yet because he is just too content to hardly move! He is in love with his hands and fingers and he is often found sucking on his two fingers.

He sleeps really good and is pretty good to fall asleep anywhere (crib, carseat, bed, floor..anywhere!) And he always wakes up so happy! Cam and I fight over who goes into his room to get him when he wakes up. A lot of times I just go into the room to check on him and he is awake and just chillin! Or he wakes up just talking and babbling.
He is such a smiley baby! He loves to give anyone a smile who will pay attention to him!

He has started reaching and grabbing for things with his hands and he is having fun playng with his toys now.

We just love those beautiful blue eyes!

I just can't get enough of him!

One Year Older and Wiser too...

Yes, I also had a Birthday, although I am not quite as excited as Taggart is about getting older. But I did have a great birthday. My awesome Mom and MIL took our kiddos and we escaped for a night alone. We went to dinner and a movie and then stayed the night at the Anniverary Inn. We stayed in the room Juliet's balcony and it was awesome! It was a huge room with a giant tub and we had a great time!




The next morning we slept in, went to the gym together, went out to breakfast, and then got massages. It really was a great 33rd Birthday! Thanks to Cam and our families for making is such a special birthday!

Look who turned 6!

I can't believe that Taggart is 6! It really just seems like yesterday that we were having our first little baby boy! Well, he isn't really little anymore and he was very excited about his birthday. He had a big birthday party at the Fun Park. Just look at that group! He was so happy to have all of his friends and family there to celebrate his special day!


They played in the soft play and also played games. Just look at all the tickets he won! He really was in 7th heaven!


He really got a TON of presents, but one of his most favorites was an extra $6 that Nana and Papi gave to him. Just look at the look on his face! He also loved his Beyblades that Grammy and Grandpy gave to him.


After the kids had pizza, Taggart blew out the candles on his Super Mario cake.

Later that evening we went to El Toro for dinner and they brought him out sopapillas with a candle and sang to him while he wore the sombrero. He was quite surprised and thought that was pretty special!

Just a few things about Taggart at age 6:

~He LOVES the Wii, but especially Super Mario Brothers, well actually any video game for that matter (on the iPad, iPhone, anything!). He really could play it all day long and he is actually VERy good at it. We have to monitor it a lot and this is usually the source of any tantrums or meltdowns when we make him turn it off, but it is also great motivator. I can get him to do just about anything if I bribe him with the Wii.
~ He is a very social, friendly little boy. He always wants to be playing with his friends and makes friends easily at school. We are happy to have such great neighbors with 2 little boys and he plays with them a lot!
~ He is doing so well in Kindergarten! He is doing 1st grade Math and already starting to read. I totally underestimated how well he would do in school and he is making us very proud! He is also a good, attentive student and always does very well on his behavior log.
~ He is pretty sweet to his brother and sister at times. When Maddie or Parker is crying, he will hold their hand and talk to them in the sweetest voice. There are a lot of times in the car where I see him holding Maddie's hand and he is always very concerned if Parks cries. He asks, "Is he hungry Mom?" It is very cute and I am glad that he is such a good big brother.
We just love our Mr. T and are so happy that he turned 6! Happy Birthday Taggart!

Showtime!

This year the Holidays brought us a few special performances. First we had Taggart's Kindergarten Christmas Program. He sang songs, recited some poems and even did some sign language. He did a great job and we had so much fun watching him. Doesn't he look cute in his Christmas tree hat that he made himself?



We also went to Tag's Tumbling Tigers Christmas review.
They did a little dance at first and it was hilarious! Then he showed us all of his cool moves..like back bends. It is so funny to watch his skinny little arms try to hold himself up, but he is getting stronger.
He is a champ at crab walks. He also did dive rolls, toe touches, and some awesome cartwheels! He really has a lot of fun at tumbling. It is a great way to learn some coordination, get stronger, and just burn off some energy! At the end of class sometimes all the boys take their shirts off and it just cracks me up to see Tag and his skinny, little chest! He did a great job and we were so proud of him!

Finally, we went to Maddie's Christmas Dance Review. She is in love with dance and takes at 2 different places and this place she calls her 'doggie dance'. She calls it this because on the first day of class they did a doggie dance and I guess it just stuck. She looks forward to going every week and she was very excited for her performance. She is very good at first position and you should have seen her adjusting her feet so they would be turned out just perfect...it was soo cute!


Check out that pointed toe! She did a great job and was very serious for the whole performance. No messing around or anything. She just watched the teacher and did all of her steps very precisely.

I just love my little dancer! It was so much fun to watch her and see how much she has learned.

It sure was a lot of fun to watch the kids show off some of their new talents this Christmas season!

Thanksgiving and More Updates....

Well I guess it is time for my monthly update! I can't seem to get around to posting more frequently, but when I get a month behind I start to panic! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. We spent Thanksgiving day with Cam's family and here we are all ready to eat our delicious turkey dinner!

Cam sacked out after dinner and Parks snuggled up to him with a big grin!

I am sooo thankful to have 3 wonderful and healthy children! (Even though Maddie would not smile or look at the camera ALL weekend long. I could not get a good picture of her for the life of me!)

Oh, this little boy is the sweetest thing in the whole wide world!! More about him in a few minutes, but how cute is his little half smile?

On Saturday we went to the Nutcracker in Logan. This is a Christmas tradition that I wanted to start and my kids really loved it. Taggart liked it even better than I expected, but when the guy comes out to dance his second solo in the end, he said, "Awww, not this guy again!" Maddie really loved seeing all the ballerinas and especially loved sitting by her cousin, Ada (with both of them on Poppy's lap for most of the time!)

Here are Ada and Maddie with Nana. Like the candy in Maddie's mouth?


Jason and Claudia and their kids were in town from California and Tag and Maddie had so much fun playing with their cousins. Maddie and Ada was VERY into dressing up and this is pretty much what they looked like the entire time they were at Nana's house. I just love to see them playing with all of our old toys! This is the one picture Maddie posed in and she did it well. Is she a Diva or what?

My parents gave all the grandkids pajamas and I only got a picture of the 3 babies. Seriously, how cute are they? Parker is almost the biggest, even though he isn't the oldest!

Since we won't see Jason and his family at Christmas, we decided to let the kids open their gift exchange presents. They were all very excited about opening Christmas gifts early.
We did have a great Thanksgiving weekend! We spent a lot of time with family, ate a TON of good food, and tried to stay warm since it was freezing cold and very snowy! Winter has arrived!

PARKER is now almost 4 1/2 months old. He really is the sweetest, best baby ever! He has been sleeping through the night for about a month and he naps like a champ during the day too! I feel like he is always asleep! When he is awake, he usually just chills under his play gym or his mobile or just watches us. He has been laughing a lot lately and the kids really think this is fun! The other day Maddie bent down in front of him to pick something up and he thought it was funny, so she kept doing it and he was giggling every time she did it! It was so funny!!! At his 4 month Dr. visit, he weighed 16 lbs. 7 ounces (84th % for age) and was 26 inches long (85th % for age). So he is pretty big boy!! Just look at all his rolls!!

He is just such a content, happy baby. He loves his hands and often times you can hear him sucking them really loudly! We are just soo in love with him!!

Halloween 2010

This year for Halloween I feel like we celebrated it for a week straight! The kids dressed up for dance, tumbling, and even a birthday party! Here is Maddie dressed in her costume from last year for dance.

We carved our pumpkins and I have to admit that this is the first time we have ever done this with our kids...sad, I know! Anyway, they were totally grossed out by the stuff inside and Maddie made me wash her hands every time she would touch it! Cam busted out his saw and dremel tool to carve the pumpkins, it was hilarious! They turned out pretty cute though!

On Halloween day, Cam's parents came up and went to lunch with us. His Mom came in her costume from last year (since we didn't see it last year), but then changed into her costume for this year. Don't they look amazing?


Cousin Emma came over to see the kids in her darling Cow costume. She looked so cute and couldn't stop eating her hooves.

What little posers....

We went over to our friends', the Karen's, house and had pizza and went trick or treating in there neighborhood. We have always gone to a Trunk or Treat, so this was our first time actually going door to door trick or treating.

It was cold and rainy and the kids got tired of running from house to house. I think they were wondering where our warm, sunny Halloweens were in St. George. I was thinking about how we had never trick or treated in the rain and then I realized it is because we spent every Halloween since Taggart was born in St. G. We sure missed the nice weather!! Although we did see a beautiful rainbow all across the sky when the sun popped out for a minute.

This is how Parks spent his time trick or treating. All bundled up, dry, and cozy. I was sure wishing I was him!!

Here is Parker and his cousin Sophie. Don't they look so cute in their Halloween outfits? Parks is 8 weeks older than her and about double her size!

It was a fun Halloween and I am kinda glad that we didn't get as much candy as we usually do! Dealing with what we got is enough for me!!