The Pierce Family

She is ONE? How is that possible?

2012-02-07T08:34:00.000-08:00

Here is my sweet Rhianna a year ago. I can't believe how quick it has gone.

We had a fun, casual birthday party for Rhianna. She wasn't quite sure about all the people at her party. She was mostly just happy to sit on my lap. No one else was allowed to hold her. She didn't really like opening the presents but I think she had way too much help from her sisters and cousin. She does like all of her presents now that she can enjoy them in peace. Her favorite thing by far was eating her cupcake. After checking it out for a minute she grabbed it with both fists and shoved it in her mouth. She thought it was the best thing ever!

It is going to be so fun watching her grow this year. She is right on the verge of walking but she gets into plenty of trouble just crawling around and pulling up on things. She loves playing with her sisters and makes sure that they involve her, whether they want to or not. She loves to chatter and is going to be more and more fun to talk to, I am sure. Oh! And I can finally get a clip to stay in her hair. She brings so much fun to this family and I am so glad that she is my baby girl!

Christmas Day 2011

2011-12-28T11:44:00.000-08:00

We had so much fun Christmas morning. Most of the present opening was done at both sets of Grandparents houses but they had opening their stockings and a couple presents from Mom and Dad. Keira and Elaina both got personalized "Cars" books with the stories all about them. They thought that was pretty cool.

The cars mat we have been waiting for. They discovered that the baby likes to chew on the signs so they moved it into their bedroom (oh darn).

Ring Pops!

Apparently I am not quite awake yet but the baby loved her stocking.

And then she figured out that her sisters got even more fun stuff in theirs and she had to taste test everything.

After a yummy breakfast and playing with toys, we went over to Grandma Marcia and Grandpa JR's house. We had SO much fun seeing Chas and Andrea, opening presents, eating too much food and playing out the zombie apocalypse that we forgot to take a single picture. Whoops.

Christmas Eve

2011-12-28T11:16:00.000-08:00

We had lots of fun on Christmas Eve at the Pierce's. Rhianna got her first Christmas present. The bow was much more interesting then the actual present. :)

Keira got hot wheels. Wait, did I say HOT WHEELS?? I thought I had three girls. Oh, it was on her list too? She has been waiting so patiently to get more toy cars, a car mat and signs to go on the car mat. She loves it.

The baby got this funny little stuffed animal that talks when you squeeze its belly. Its mouth moves as well. You can't really tell from the picture but she is laughing hysterically at it. She loves it, even if it drives the parents to hide it occasionally.

This girl managed to get a gash on her nose and a bruise on her eye while we were over at Grandma and Grandpa's on Christmas Eve. It was sort of a rough night for her but she had fun anyway.

My Cute Girls

2011-12-18T10:58:00.000-08:00

Here are all of my babies around the same age (between 10-11 months). I think it is pretty obvious now who is who but they still look a lot alike. And for those of you who think I am kidding when I say I am not used to having a baby with as little hair as Rhianna has, just look at the other two! So much hair!

Funny Pictures

2011-12-18T10:51:00.000-08:00

Elaina got some new rain boots the other day and I told her she could try them on. I don't know what happened to her pants but when I turned around and looked a couple minutes later this is what she was wearing. This will be a good one for the future boyfriends!

Cute sisters having fun together while Keira is at Kindergarten. The baby thinks it is hilarious to sit on the couch and play with her sisters. She also likes to torture the dog. Good thing Jada is so mellow and nice.

A Big Month for Keira

2011-12-18T10:35:00.000-08:00

Keira has had a lot of exciting things happen. She lost her THIRD tooth (she isn't even 5 1/2 yet). If you look at the picture closely you can tell that her two adult front bottom teeth have already come in almost all the way. Crazy.

She got a new coat that doesn't make her look homeless. One day her other coat was too small, it fit just fine the day before. Darn growth spurts. This isn't too big of a deal other than she insisted that I take pictures of her in it and that she posed herself in all of them (there are more but these are my favorites).

She also got her 5 miler award. Her school does a thing called Monday Milers every Monday during recess. The kids get to run around the track (it is optional) and aids keep track of how much they run. So Keira has run 5 miles during Monday Milers since the beginning of school. I would never run without being forced to, so that is a pretty big deal to us. We aren't sure where she got this gene from because it isn't from either of her parents.

Thanksgiving (I Cooked!)

2011-12-18T10:27:00.000-08:00

We had Thanksgiving at home this year. It was nice to not go anywhere but that also meant that I had to do the cooking. I was shocked but everything turned out including my first turkey! The girls loved everything about the meal. I didn't get a picture but the baby was gobbling down everything as fast as she could. She has never met a meal she didn't like and the lack of teeth doesn't seem to be slowing her down.

Happy Halloween 2011

2011-11-02T09:02:00.000-07:00

We had a pretty good Halloween this year. The girls were very cute in their costumes. I think it is pretty obvious but they are a bee, a bear and a witch. The girls had a fun time carving pumpkins with their dad. I stay out of it. Not my thing! I am a good picture taker I guess. I am super excited that Halloween is over now. I have my Christmas music on and I am thinking about all the things I want to do this season. I love this time of year!

A Month of Living

2011-10-18T14:45:00.000-07:00

It has been a month since I last made a blog post. We haven't been busy doing anything really exciting but just living life with three little girls. These pictures are in no particular order. We got pumpkins for Halloween. They are HUGE. They didn't seem that big when they were in the pumpkin patch. We will have pictures of them once they are carved.

The girls got out storage cubes one day and were playing train in them. The baby thought it looked fun, so I put her in one and she had a blast. She is really figuring this "playing with the big girls" thing out.

Keira lost her first tooth!! Yes, she is only 5 but it came out all by itself while she was eating lunch one day and she accidentally swallowed it. Poor girl didn't have anything to leave the tooth fairy but she was nice enough to come, just the same.

The baby had her first bath in the big tub. She loved it. I love the look of the flash on the water in this picture. It looks really cool.

The girls got hair cuts but didn't want to pose for a picture so we got this goofy one instead. Sometimes those are the best anyway.

Keira was Star Monkey in her class one weekend. She got to bring home Mr. Monkey and take him on all kinds of adventures. Then she wrote about it in a journal and had a big poster all about her up in the class for the week. She loved it.

Rhianna tried on her Halloween costume. She is going to be the cutest baby bear!

I had a birthday. We had to open presents as soon as I got out of the shower that morning. That is why we are all so cute in this picture. They made my day so much fun. I am so lucky to have three really cute girls.

Keira's Fair Ride

2011-09-18T07:39:00.000-07:00

Keira decided that she wanted to try a new ride this year instead of the Merry Go Round. This is the ride that she chose. I couldn't stop laughing the whole time she was on. I just love the looks on her face.

First Day of School

2011-09-15T18:14:00.000-07:00

Keira started Kindergarten this year. She wasn't sure if she was excited at first but she has really warmed up to it. She seems to like her teacher and has found a friend. She has 18 (!) boys and 6 girls in her class. It should be an interesting year! I am looking forward to volunteering in her classroom as soon as they get my paperwork done.

Elaina started preschool on Tuesday. She was SOOOO excited. She didn't think it was fair that she had to wait three whole school days until she got to go to school. She is loving everything about her class. I am thinking from her teachers' comments that she is probably one of the more outgoing kids in the class. That doesn't surprise me a bit!

It Goes Fast

2011-09-07T15:14:00.000-07:00

Here are some cute pictures of Rhianna from the past week or so. I can't believe how big she is getting. It seems like every baby's first year goes faster than the last. She is just too cute! She turned 7 months on Sunday. She is getting really good at imitating sounds and she sits up like a pro and is rolling and scooting EVERYWHERE! Her favorite food is anything with sweet potato and she has become a side sleeper. So much fun. We are waiting patiently on her first tooth. It could come any day now.

So Many Cheeks

2011-08-30T08:20:00.000-07:00

Here are my 3 babies around 6.5-7 months. I think they look more a like at this point then at any other point in their lives. Especially Rhianna and Keira. I think it is pretty obvious but I will let you guess who is who. ;)

Happy Girl

2011-08-22T08:14:00.000-07:00

Rhianna loves to play in her bouncy chair. She is getting enough muscle in her legs to get pretty high off the ground. I just love the look of pure joy on her face.

Highlights from Idaho

2011-08-17T17:27:00.000-07:00

So I am tired of fighting with blogger so there will be a bunch more photos on Facebook. Just head on over there if you like what you see. These photos are in no particular order. We had a pinata at reunion. The girls thought it was one of the highlights of their day. They both got in a pretty good hit!

Riding a tiger at the zoo. The real tiger was MIA but I don't think they girls cared because they were way too interested in the fake one.

Apparently Mom beat Aunt Terry at the game (I missed it) but it seems like a photo finish to me.

This lion wasn't so tough. He spent the whole time we were there eating grass.

Elaina tiptoed her way across this bridge both times we went on it. She is usually fearless but this bridge was more then she could handle apparently.

We went and walked around the Rexburg temple. This was the first temple grounds the girls got to walk on (we visited the Idaho Falls temple the day before but the grounds were under construction so we could only look from afar.) Elaina told me that she is going to get married in THIS temple. So lets hope that works out for her.

A fun safari tent they had at the zoo.

We went to the Legacy Museum of Flight in Rexburg. It was really cool. All of the old planes they have there are able to still fly.

More at the temple.

My favorite part of reunion. Keira and Elaina (and some other kids I think) chased Andrea around the yard with water guns.

Practicing for their trips to the amusement parks, I am sure.

The baby had so much fun! She was a really good baby. So happy.

Really Random

2011-07-29T21:24:00.000-07:00

This summer has been going by fast, I guess. I don't know what we have been doing and I really wish school would start but when I think about it, I can't believe it is almost August.

The baby had her first food other than formula and cereal. It was green beans. She isn't quite sure if she likes it. She ate a lot of it but she spent a lot of time gagging and shivering like it was the nastiest thing she had ever put in her mouth (sort of how I feel about green beans but my girls have always liked them!) We will try again tomorrow and see if she warms up to them at all.

We got home from the grocery store and the girls decided to build a castle out of the food that needed to go into the pantry. They are very creative, I will give them that. They weren't exactly thrilled when I declared it time to put the food away. I was starting to get worried they were going to break a jar of baby food. I am such a party pooper.

This is just funny.

Elaina is our middle child for sure. She likes to find little ways to remind us that she is here (like we forgot!). This evening she was still eating dinner when I had to go feed the baby and she got into the peanut butter that was on the table and gave herself a beard. I tried to yell at her but I just ended up laughing really hard. Oh well. I am probably too mean of a mom most days. She wins this round!

More Parties! Are We Done Yet?

2011-07-10T10:04:00.000-07:00

The girls birthday cake. Thank you, Walmart! The kids loved it and it was super easy to serve up. Just grab a cupcake!

Happy girls.

Opening some presents. They are lucky to have summer birthdays because they get bbqs and opening presents outside!

We Washingtonians don't use umbrellas when it rains, we use them when it is sunny. Our sensitive skin can't take the UV rays.

This poor little baby had a cold but she was such a good baby. Next year she is going to be quite the helper at her sisters' birthday parties, I am sure.

Keira is 5!

2011-07-01T08:09:00.001-07:00

Keira is five years old now! I can't believe it. Yesterday was her birthday but we have been celebrating all week long it feels like. Blogger decided to switch up the order of the photos but we had Keira's princess party last Saturday. A local children's salon has a party room and the owner is a member of the church I go to and she donated a party to an auction the teens in our church had for their youth programs over the summer. I bid on the party and won! So Keira got this fun friend party and they had a blast. They got their hair and nails done and got to play princess themed games and make princess themed crafts.

On Keira's actual birthday we went to the zoo with Grandma Marcia and Great-Grandma Williams. It was the perfect day. It was nice and cool so all the animals were out playing. I have been to that zoo a million times and I saw animals out that I have never seen out before! It was kind of cool. She got to pick out what we had for breakfast, lunch and dinner and she picked donuts for breakfast, sandwiches for our picnic lunch at the zoo and pizza for dinner. Then she wanted strawberry shortcake and I found a strawberry boston creme pie at the store and thankfully she thought it was perfect! What a fun day for a cute 5 year old!

We Know They Are Sisters

2011-06-19T10:57:00.000-07:00

These are all my babies at about 4 1/2 months old. Can you guess who is who?

Food is Good

2011-06-14T08:42:00.000-07:00

Rhianna had her first cereal today. She loved it. I was expecting a face or spitting it out but she just sucked it down and waited patiently for more. She was even helping shovel it in at some points. I couldn't believe how well she did. My girls have always had an easy time transitioning to solids and always liked their food but she was the best first time eater for sure. She didn't even make a mess. The only mess she made was at the end when she decided she was done and raspberried at me. Now we can only hope getting some solids in her will help with her pukeyness. Fingers crossed.

Minivan!!!!

2011-06-04T15:57:00.000-07:00

We are super excited that we finally have a minivan. I also got a better deal than I expected to which made it that much more exciting. It is a 2008 Toyota Sienna for those who are interested in those sort of things. We couldn't be more excited to drive around without practically sitting in each others laps.

Cute!

2011-06-01T08:35:00.000-07:00

I just found this picture on my camera so Daddy must have taken it. Very cute!

"The Paci Pixie"

2011-06-01T08:17:00.000-07:00

Elaina got a book for Easter called "The Paci Pixie" (click here if you want to see the book). She really liked the book and we kept talking about the Paci Pixie coming to take away her pacifiers for new babies but she didn't like that idea. I finally made it a goal in my head to get rid of them at the end of May. Yesterday was the last day of May so I followed through on my plan. We put Elaina's pacifiers (yes, we have backups for our backups) out on a cute blanket. Last night while she was asleep the Paci Pixie came and got her pacifiers and replaced them with bubbles! So fun! She wasn't to thrilled about going to bed without her pacifier and we had a little harder time going to bed then normal but she went to sleep without any meltdowns and was so excited to see her present. She hasn't even asked where her pacifiers are. Hopefully naptime and bedtime will go ok without them. We will see.

Fun Stuff

2011-05-13T14:10:00.001-07:00

Keira took this picture. So cute! Rhianna just loves her sisters especially Keira. I think she has learned to fear Elainaa little. Elaina is kind of rough with her love sometimes.

She loves to lay like this until her neck gets tired. She is enjoying some "Nightly News." Never too soon to learn about current world events.

Keira didn't feel very well a few days ago and snuggled up on the floor and Elaina thought that looked like a good idea. Elaina copies just about everything Keira does. It is pretty funny to watch (until the fighting begins).

Keira's 5th Birthday List (she is getting so grown up. There is almost no silly stuff on it anymore. So sad).

1) Super Hero Costume (to wear everyday)
2) Games for my Leapfrog Leapster 2
3) New Drawing Tablet
4) New things for my dollhouse (plastic is better. the wooden stuff was destroyed.)
5) Kid Kitchen
6) Art Supplies
7) 3D sidewalk chalk
8) Hula Hoop
9) Jump Rope
10) Doctor Kit and Doctor Room
11) Kid Monopoly and other board games
12) Floor Mat to dance on
13) Moon Dough
14) an Ipod (she wants to be able to carry around her music)
15) kid camera
16) Polly Pocket with clothes to change
17) water guns

Smile!

2011-05-04T14:16:00.000-07:00

This cute girl is 3 months old today. I can't believe how fast it is going. She is so full of smiles and giggles and will talk to anyone within earshot, even if it is just her toy. She is the happiest baby and I am so glad that she is a member of our family. I can't wait to see her develop and grow.

Easter Sunday

2011-04-24T18:15:00.000-07:00

Here are my girls in their cute Easter dresses that Grandma Holly got for them. I am not one for dressing my girls up like dolls but it is fun dressing them all alike (similar?) sometimes. They are too cute!

Easter Activities

2011-04-24T09:24:00.000-07:00

The girls got Easter baskets and found Easter eggs yesterday. We told them the eggs were only hidden in the living room but I don't think Elaina believed us.

Run!! Those Easter eggs might get away!

Keira got a few more eggs than Elaina so she shared some that she found. What a good big sister.

On Friday we colored Easter eggs. Elaina thought it was so fun. She even tasted the coloring solution made of vinegar. Apparently it was a completely normal taste because she had no reaction to it at all. I was trying not to throw up.

Rhianna thought coloring eggs was for the big sisters and opted to fall asleep in her gym like she does at least a couple times a week. If only she could get some attention from that mom of hers.

Aunt Andrea (and Uncle Chas) Come to Visit

2011-04-15T13:37:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday we went to my mom's and spent the day with Andrea since she was in town. Rhianna just hung out all day. She kind of had a rough time. Not sure why. She is normally a really happy baby but she was just in a mood that day. She loves that fist. She is always sucking on it and almost prefers it to a pacifier. Not sure how I feel about that...

Elaina loves for her Grandma Marcia to read her books. Grandma has lots of fun books and they always go for them as soon as they get to her house.

Keira has been a reading fool lately. She is getting so good and I am amazed at the words she can sound out these days.

Keira and Andrea made cookies. Andrea taught her the finer points of eating butterscotch chips. I am so glad I got that picture. Cracks me up.

This was from this morning. Keira has been really good about reading her sister books and Elaina loves to sit and listen. I am glad they are (usually) good about entertaining each other. Now if I could just get them to quit rough housing so much. They wrestle and fight more than any boys I know!

I love how blogger rearranged my pictures. They couldn't get enough of Andrea. We don't see her enough. Good thing we are planning a trip to Idaho in August to see her!
We forgot to get any pictures with Uncle Chas but he was around a little bit! Cute story: Elaina is obsessed with Chas. We are not sure why. She hasn't really been around him much but she points him out first in any picture she sees of him and gets excited when he waves to us when we are talking to Andrea on Skype. So when we got to Mom's house I took her into the dead animal room because he was there watching t.v. I pointed him out and asked if she knew who he was. She got all shy and whispered to me behind her hand "Uncle Chas." I kept trying to get her to talk to him but she wouldn't say anything. Finally we went to leave the room and she whispers to me behind her hand again (this is the girl that is not shy and never whispers, by the way) "I love my Uncle Chas." So cute. We are glad she likes him. Someone has to. ;) I guess Andrea does.

Cute Faces

2011-03-31T14:49:00.000-07:00

The many cute expressions of Rhianna. She is a really smiley and talkative baby. She loves attention. Good thing she has two sisters that are always ready to give it to her! I can't believe that she will be 2 months old on Monday. Time is flying!

Chunky Babies and Other Fun

2011-03-28T08:30:00.000-07:00

Rhianna is getting so chubby cute. I just love it. She is such a happy baby already. She loves to talk and smile and is trying really hard to have her first laugh.

We had a rough night a week or two ago and they decided to catch up on some sleep together.

She loves her baby gym but apparently it just wasn't doing it for her this day. She passed out. So cute!

We had a ward carnival last weekend and Keira got her face painted. She waited in line for an hour just for this. She didn't even seem to mind too much that she missed most of the other activities. She does keep reminding me that the Puyallup Fair is coming up in September and that she needs to go so she can have more fun. I guess I better start saving my pennies.

Kendra and Analei came over to say goodbye on Saturday. They are moving to Ohio on Wednesday. We are not very happy about it around here! Analei thought Jada was so much fun. Jada is such a good dog. She is so patient with kids.

Four Girls

2011-03-11T15:58:00.000-08:00

My parents are so lucky to have four very cute granddaughters! Kendra was over at my house today so we decided to get an updated picture of all of the girls before they move away from us! How rude! Good thing we live in the age of Skype and Facebook. Maybe they won't seem so far away. Analei (Kendra's daughter) is 5 1/2 months old, Elaina is 2 1/2, Keira is 4 1/2 and Rhianna is now 5 weeks. Where does the time go?

Baby Blessing Day

2011-03-06T19:12:00.000-08:00

Rhianna had her baby blessing today. Rick did a really good job with the blessing. I am so thankful to have a worthy priesthood holder for a husband. He does a really good job as a daddy to all of these girls!

Three Babies

2011-03-05T10:02:00.000-08:00

I wanted to compare all of my babies to see how they look alike and are different at about 1 month each. I think it is safe to say they are sisters. haha. Keira is the top, then Elaina and then Rhianna. Rhianna is my first light haired baby. Elaina has much bigger lips than her sisters. Cute girls.

Dr. Seuss' Birthday

2011-03-03T15:21:00.000-08:00

Keira heard on TV last week that it was Dr. Seuss' birthday on March 2 so she has been counting down. Yesterday we did lots of things to celebrate, mostly because she insisted. We watched some Cat in the Hat on TV in the morning, we got out all of our Dr. Seuss books and read them all day, Keira made him a card and we baked a cake. Keira wanted to deliver her card to him and was bummed to hear that he was dead. We had a fun day and the cake was pretty good if I do say so myself.

Oh, Keira picked the frosting color and we decided it was the same color as the cat ring on the bath tub in Cat in the Hat Comes Back. :)

Big Sister, Little Sister

2011-02-25T11:29:00.000-08:00

I took some pictures of the girls with their big sister, little sister shirts on today and these are my two favorites. Rhianna wasn't thrilled because I was sort of interrupting nap time but they are all still cute pictures. They girls love their baby sister and are such good help with her most of the time. I will feel a little better when Rhianna is a little bigger and can stand up to her sisters a little bit because Elaina's loving can be rough at times. I was quite surprised when I wanted the girls to hold Rhianna between them when I took these pictures and Elaina took her in her arms and held her very gently. Miracles happen every day!

Firsts

2011-02-20T11:10:00.000-08:00

Rhianna's umbilical cord finally fell off yesterday afternoon so we were able to get some more firsts in this weekend. She had her first tummy time yesterday evening. She laid there so calm for a really long time. I don't think I have ever seen a little baby so calm during tummy time ever. They usually don't like it much.

This morning we gave her the first real bath. She has just had little sponge baths before now. She wasn't very happy with them. I don't know why Elaina doesn't look happy in the picture. She was never crying. I think she was imitating her sister's face. It is a funny picture though. Keira helped me bath her and put lotion on her. My two older girls have never really cared about baby massages, they either cried or wiggled around until I stopped but Rhianna totally zones out if I message her legs or feet. It is insane how well it works. Last night she was screaming hard (I think she had a gas bubble that would not go away) and I undressed her and started massaging her legs and she immediately stopped crying and zoned out. I hope this trick lasts!!

Playtime

2011-02-17T11:27:00.001-08:00

Blogger is seriously getting to be a pain. These are the only pictures it will let me post. I really don't know what the problem is.

Anyway, I put Rhianna on the floor for some play time a couple of days ago. It was the first time I had done that. Elaina is SOOO rough. She doesn't know how to slow down or be gentle. She doesn't mean any harm, that is just how she is. So I had to sit right next to Rhianna the whole time. The girls thought it was so fun playing with her. She was so alert, just looking around at everything. She is going to have to be a tough girl to survive her big sister Elaina though.

Great Grandmas

2011-02-13T09:19:00.001-08:00

My girls are so lucky to have so many great grandparents that they are close to. I don't remember any of my great grandparents but my girls get to spend time with some of their great grandma's quite often. This week my Grandmas Inman and Williams both came over to see Rhianna. We love having them around and were glad they came to visit.

(You can see Keira getting some goodies in the background. My Aunt Colleen came over as well and brought the big girls a bunch of presents. Sometimes it really works in your favor to have a new baby sister!)

Feeding "My Baby"

2011-02-08T11:33:00.000-08:00

Keira was begging to feed Rhianna all day, so I finally let her. She was so proud and excited to do it. She has started referring to Rhianna as "my baby" (or sometimes she shares and says "our baby" instead). I am so glad that she seems mostly happy to have the baby around. She is not the best when it comes to change. She was even worried yesterday that I was going to leave the baby at the doctor's office. What a good big sister!

The Girls

2011-02-07T08:08:00.000-08:00

Keira and Elaina are so excited to be big sisters. They have been holding and kissing and talking to the baby non stop since they got home yesterday afternoon. They were so happy this morning when they woke up and Rhianna was still here. We get to keep her and everything! Keira really wants to help feed her, so we are going to have to let her give her a bottle soon. Rhianna is such a good baby. I am feeling pretty lucky. Once we got some stuff worked out (I am bottle feeding again. I tried the old fashioned way and it just doesn't work for me. I am SOOOO impressed with all of you moms out there that can do it!) she has been so happy and content which means I am happy and content. Life is good. :)

Rhianna Nicole is Here!

2011-02-05T16:12:00.001-08:00

Rhianna Nicole was born Feb. 4, 2011 at 2:51 pm. She weighed 7 lbs 15 oz (I am so glad I had her a week early!!!) and was 20 inches long. She is doing really well and we are glad to be home. It is going to be really fun having three girls around the house and I am sure glad that Rick gets to take the week off!

Blogger is being really weird and I finally got this picture to load. Hopefully I will have more up soon when blogger decides to cooperate and I have the motivation to deal with it. :)

Beautiful Hair

2011-02-02T12:03:00.000-08:00

The girls (finally) got their hair cut. They really needed it. They were starting to look homeless. They both got much shorter hair and really like it. I really like it too! They are excited to look extra beautiful for when they meet their baby sister soon. :)

38 1/2 Weeks Huge

2011-02-01T07:44:00.000-08:00

Here is probably my last belly pic. My stomach is so huge!! You never think you can or will get as big as you do. How in the world does one person stretch so much? We are ready for baby to come, so come on out little girl!

"Pretty Eyes"

2011-01-22T19:00:00.001-08:00

After a fun and loud evening with Rick's parents we realized that Elaina was playing very quietly down the hallway. We weren't exactly sure what room she was in but quiet is never a good sign with her, mostly because it is so unusual. I found her in my bathroom with the door closed. She said she had "pretty eyes" like mommy. I am just glad that she didn't poke herself in the eye or get mascara on anything. She was wearing clothes but I took them off quickly so she wouldn't get mascara on them. Good thing the girls were about to get a bath anyway.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-26T14:49:00.000-08:00

We went to Rick's parents for Christmas Eve. Keira got her very own hand held video game. She is super excited. Now we just have to invest in some games for it. It has the one free one that it came with but she is already asking for more. Goody.

Elaina got a box! She was shouting "It's a box!" She was so excited. There was fun stuff in it but she didn't seem to care about that.

Elaina is OBSESSED with the Cat in the Hat show that is on PBS and was super excited to get her very own Cat in the Hat.

Christmas morning, we were waiting for Rick to come out of his room (we had to wait about 2 minutes but apparently it was like eternity.) The girls were not happy! Elaina wanted her presents. haha.

She went straight for her chocolate. She knows what the good stuff is.

Keira got Rick a huge bag of Swedish Fish. They are some of his favorite candies and she was so excited to give him a present that she picked out all by herself.

Elaina helped everyone open their presents whether you wanted the help or not.

Zhu Zhu pets have invaded our house. Keira has been begging for them for quite a while now and it super excited to have one.

Anyone want to come over and play some Catan with us? Rick is the proud owner of the game now.

Santa brought me a Wii and Wii Fit. I guess I will have no excuse if I can't get this baby weight off once the baby is born.

The girls got a dollhouse. They are completely excited. It didn't come with any people but as soon as Elaina figured out what it was she ran in her room and got some lego people to play with in it. I have creative children, that is for sure.

Elaina got a new baby stroller. She pushed one of grandma's baby dolls around in it all day. She is going to be the best big sister!

We spent Christmas day over at my parent's house and had lots of fun. Keira got a bunch of musical instruments and a vest with a pocket and had her harmonica and kazoo in the pocket so she could play a song at a moments notice. We are going to put her out by the bus stop near our house so she can bring in some extra money now. ;)

Family Pics 2010

2010-12-20T14:00:00.001-08:00

Here are our family pics that were taken last Saturday. Elaina was not cooperating and it is a miracle that we got one good one of all of us together. I am so glad that is over. Nothing more stressful than trying to get everyone to pose and smile. Ahhhh!

30 Weeks

2010-12-04T12:00:00.000-08:00

Each day cannot go by fast enough. I am done being pregnant and I am sick of having all this food around me that I can't eat!! The things we do for our kids. I think I will be bigger than the Christmas tree before the baby comes out. How do our bodies stretch this much?!?

Our Tree

2010-11-28T15:53:00.000-08:00

Keira and Aunt Andrea decorated most of the tree (I strung the lights on it) but Elaina did put up her couple of ornaments. They are so proud of their tree and wanted to pose for a picture this morning before church. Keira keeps moving ornaments around because she insists they keep falling off which tends to happen when you PULL them off. If I can just keep them from touching the tree it may survive the holiday. Elaina likes to wait until I am looking at her and then see how much of the tree she can touch before she gets in trouble. Oh we love the age of two!

The Pierce Family Craft Project of the Year

2010-11-23T15:40:00.001-08:00

I am really not crafty and we rarely do little projects like this at our house but we were suppose to do these apple turkeys at Keira's preschool class today. Class was canceled so I let the girls do it at home instead. Keira figured it out right away but Elaina kept eating everything I handed her. After a few demonstrations she figured out what she was suppose to do and got really into it. She had to do everything herself. Not to bad for a two year old. They are super excited to show them to their dad when he gets home and really want to eat their creations (even though they got their fill of marshmallows, raisins and craisins while making them).

I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas....

2010-11-23T12:54:00.001-08:00

but right now we have snow. Keira was so excited and wanted to play in it so bad. I was REALLY sick so she had to wait for her dad to have some free time to take her out in the front yard to play. It was snowing hard the whole time but she loved it! They did go out with Elaina later and built another snowman but apparently no one took pictures of that. I would be happy if this was our first and only snow of the year but I doubt that will happen.

Keira's 2010 Christmas List

2010-11-04T12:36:00.000-07:00

Short, sweet and to the point. It is so funny to listen to what a four year old wants. Some stuff didn't surprise me because she has been asking for it for a long time (like the Zhu Zhu pets) but some stuff was just off the top of her head. At least there wasn't any expensive electronics on the list this time!

Keira's 2010 Christmas List

1) Zhu Zhu Pets

2) Toy Dog House

3) Telescope

4) Cuckoo Clock (brown)

5) Kazoo or "Trumpet with no buttons"

6) Dollhouse (with a bed)

7) A sign that says "NO HITTING EACH OTHER" and another one that

says "No SQUEEZING EACH OTHER"

8) remote control car

9) a new ball

And on a completely unrelated note, did you notice that the baby countdown is finally into the double digits!?! Whoohoo!

One Thing Down, So Many More To Go

2010-11-02T17:09:00.000-07:00

Rick got the crib built. I am very happy with it. It is so nice and sturdy. I still have so many more thing to do and get before this baby is born but it is nice to get one thing checked off the list.

Trunk or Treat

2010-10-30T19:38:00.001-07:00

Well these pictures were in order and then I messed up and now they aren't so you will have to figure out what order they are suppose to be in. Gotta love Blogger. Anyway, we have been carving pumpkins like crazy (and when I say we, I mean Rick). We have three carved pumpkins. The smiley face was designed by Keira and the other two are Rick's creations. The green pumpkin is a character from a video game he likes to play. He specifically found a green pumpkin to make it because the character is green. He is creative, we know.

The girls went to Trunk or Treat and had a blast. I handed out candy and Rick took the girls around. Elaina was really into it I guess and yelled "Thank you!!" at everyone that gave her candy. Never say that girl isn't grateful. I didn't dress Elaina up this year. She just went in a cute Halloween shirt which she loves. Keira wanted to be a princess again so that is what she was. We loved the candy for Halloween but I am glad that we can move on from this holiday and finally get to the good holidays. haha. Crank up the Christmas music!!!

Pumpkin Patch 2010

2010-10-23T11:20:00.000-07:00

We had lots of fun at the pumpkin patch this year and we were lucky to miss the rain by minutes! We still got nice and muddy but isn't that part of the fun of picking your own pumpkin? Elaina was lots of help and tried to push the wheelbarrow around but it is bigger than she is so it didn't work out too well. Rick was like a kid at a candy store. He loves to find the perfect pumpkins for his masterpieces. We took the girls to look at the animals and I was super surprised to see that Keira was brave enough to pet some sheep. Elaina did pet the goats but I didn't get a picture of her doing it. I missed the first time and then she didn't do it again. They had a baby cow that was passed out and it was so cute! I couldn't get either of the girls to go pet it but I took a picture anyway.

Everyone Needs a Cousin

2010-10-22T13:17:00.000-07:00

Need I say more?

Cat in the Hat

2010-10-20T08:47:00.000-07:00

Elaina does this every time Cat in the Hat comes on. Soooo funny. Keira usually does it a little too but she figured out I was taking a video.

Baby Bump

2010-10-12T17:18:00.000-07:00

Here it is at 22 1/2 weeks. My first picture of the baby bump. I have been slacking. Hopefully she will forgive me someday for being so forgetful.

Cousins!

2010-09-22T19:57:00.000-07:00

As everyone hopefully knows by now, my sister Kendra had her baby on Saturday. I finally got a chance to bring the girls over to meet their very first cousin and they were so excited! They both ran up to her as soon as they walked in and wanted to hug and kiss her and hold her. Keira held her all by herself and did really well. Elaina loved giving the baby "hugs" which means she wanted to hold her. Elaina couldn't get enough of the baby. We just had to remind her to be soft because she was trying to treat her like one of her dolls. I hope they are as enthusiastic of their new sister as they are of Analei because they did so good!! We love finally having a cousin of our very own. :)

Drumroll Please....

2010-09-22T11:42:00.001-07:00

It's a GIRL!! Rick is outnumbered by leaps and bounds now. I can't believe it is a girl. I am actually a little shocked. Rick and I have already begun the name argument (oh, I mean discussion). This should be interesting. Good thing I don't have to buy a whole new wardrobe because I have to replace the crib and a couple other things. Of course new clothes aren't completely out of the question. Some have been well loved by two kids (or more) already. I got to take my first glucose test today. So now I need to cross my fingers on that. Oh the joys of pregnancy.

Roommates

2010-09-18T08:44:00.000-07:00

Keira and Elaina have been sharing a room for a couple of weeks now and it is starting to be the normal thing. They are doing much better getting to bed and not keeping each other up and Keira is better about sneaking out of the bedroom in the morning without waking up her sister (she is an early riser, Elaina likes to sleep in). Elaina loves to sleep in her big girl bed or as she calls it her "bunka bed." She also loves the pillow we gave her with a butterfly on it. She does NOT like to sleep with any other blankets other than her special blanket that she slept with in her crib. If you try to put another blanket on her she screams "No, no blanket!" Maybe when it gets colder at night she might change her mind.

Preschool in Action

2010-09-17T07:18:00.000-07:00

While I was teaching on Thursday my friend Dorothy (who has two kids in the preschool also) decided to stay behind and take pictures so that we could have them. Usually she would be babysitting my little kids while I am teaching but Rick was home so she got the day off. She got lots of cute pictures of all of the kids but I am just posting ones with Keira kind of front and center. This is their class picture. So cute (but those boys are a handful to say the least!).

We have taken over one of the nursery rooms at church for preschool so we don't have to invade each others houses, so there are already toys there for free play. I think this is easily the kids favorite part of preschool!

Art projects probably come in a strong second. We let them use the markers yesterday and they did well. I am glad that I have three weeks off now. It will be nice to just drop Keira off for a while although I should start planning my next two lessons now. No more procrastinating!!

Keira's First Day of Preschool

2010-09-14T17:00:00.000-07:00

Does she look excited enough? I was stressed, not because she was starting preschool but because I was the teacher! We are doing Joy School which means that all of the moms take turn teaching. It is a little more stressful but the only way we could afford it. We are doing it with 3 other moms (4 other kids) and they are all in our ward so the kids know each other really well already. It went well but I can't wait to just drop her off next week! :) Keira did have lots of fun and loved the whole thing. I hope her enthusiasm lasts through college! Now I am off to prepare the lesson for Thursday.

Puyallup Fair 2010

2010-09-10T16:07:00.001-07:00

Crazy blogger is messing up the order of the pictures but oh well. Elaina and Keira went on the Merry Go Round and Elaina was waving and yelling at everyone. She loved it.

Looking at some baby chicks. Keira wasn't as interested as you would think. She wanted to see the big roosters instead.

They both HAD to take their picture with the big goose. I think Elaina just wanted out of the stroller.

The girls loved the cats and the little houses the kids made for them to sleep in. She would have stayed there all day looking at them.

Elaina ate the whole thing!

Addai took a nap. Too much excitement for him I guess.

She did NOT want to get off the Merry Go Round.

Line for the scones was worth it but I have never had to wait that long before!

We had lots of fun and babysitting Addai is sure getting me ready for three kids. It probably won't even phase me when this next one is born except I might still be babysitting him and so I will have to deal with four. I need a bigger car. haha.

The Top Bunk

2010-08-29T08:07:00.000-07:00

Keira got to sleep on the top bunk last night in preparation for Elaina moving into her room soon. I have been debating whether or not I wanted her up there or if I just wanted her and Elaina to share the bottom bunk for awhile. We have had the ladder hidden on the top bunk so that they couldn't climb up there but I decided to get it down yesterday and see how they did with it. Keira was good at getting up the ladder and once I showed her the best way to get down she was going up and down it without any problem. Elaina was also really good at climbing it (she is fearless on the big toy at the park and this ladder was nothing compared to some there) but she was having a hard time getting down without falling or jumping part way (which she thought was fun, scared me and Rick out of our wits). We decided it would be ok so Keira got to finally sleep up top. She was so excited she went to bed 30 minutes early voluntarily which NEVER happens (it is usually a huge battle to get her to go to bed on time). So wish us luck in this new transition. I will probably start having Elaina take her naps on the bottom bunk and then if she does well there I will move her into that room in a couple of weeks. I am crossing my fingers that this all works out!!

My Little Models

2010-08-24T10:55:00.000-07:00

These are just a few of the many pictures that Tyra took of the girls while she was in Washington. I was so nervous that there wouldn't be any good ones because Elaina had a little break down before we started and wasn't being very cooperative. As you can see, I didn't have to be worried. She got tons of great pictures (and these are just a couple of my favorites). Thanks Tyra!

Baby Poll

2010-08-17T11:01:00.000-07:00

So we will hopefully be finding out if we are having a boy or a girl on Sept 22 if the baby decides to cooperate so I put a poll up on the side of my blog. Vote away. Rick is REALLY hoping for a boy (although he won't really admit that to anyone except for me, but believe me, he is hoping and praying!) and I am kind of on the fence. I like my girls and wouldn't mind another one but I also would like to have at least one boy. So I will just be happy with what I get. I guess in the end we just want a healthy baby. I had a drs appointment yesterday and my dr gave me an ultra sound and the baby was wiggling away and opening and closing its mouth. I also got to hear the heartbeat for the first time which is always really cool.

A Day at the Beach

2010-08-14T15:09:00.000-07:00

...or more like a morning at the beach. We just stayed for a couple hours because this was the only day we could go before it started to get into fall and we have been promising the girls we would go this summer. They had so much fun building and playing with the sand. That was all they really wanted to do. They both went and stood in the water but the sand was much more exciting. We also got to see tons of kites flying and they were having a competition so we got to see them do some crazy things with kites. I can barely get mine to fly into the air let alone make it do patterns or hover right above the ground. It was pretty crazy. Jada even got to come with us and she was sure that any minute a kite was going to swoop down and carry her away. She is kind of a wimpy dog.

New Haircuts

2010-08-11T07:09:00.000-07:00

The girls and I went over to Elisa's house last night and got our hair cut. Elaina didn't really want to pose for the camera. Her hair isn't much different, we just tried to even out all of the baby hair so she didn't look so homeless. ;) Keira said she wanted her hair SHORT so we cut it off to her chin and she LOVES it as you can tell. My hair got cut off too but I didn't get my picture taken. I guess I could have let the girls take it but I am usually so busy trying to keep them away from my camera that the thought didn't occur to me. I guess we will just have to come see everyone in person so they can admire our new hair. :)

Thanks Elisa for making us look so cute!

Happy 2nd Birthday Elaina!

2010-07-31T07:39:00.000-07:00

Elaina is 2 years old today. I can't believe it. Her little life seems like it has been such a crazy time. I feel like I am still trying to make up for the all time I missed when she was a baby since I was working. She is so full of life. She loves to explore everything and has absolutely no fear. She loves her sister and always wants to give her kisses when she goes to bed. "Kisses for Kia" has she calls them. I know she is going to love being a big sister because she loves babies. Her dolls are fun but real babies are the best! We are so glad that she is a member of our family and can't wait for her to keep learning and progressing (especially with the toilet training!) :).

Happy Birthday Elaina!

Fun at the Zoo

2010-07-26T07:46:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we went to the Woodland Park Zoo. Rick has been there once when he was very little and the rest of us had never been so it was a lot of fun to go somewhere new. Keira was our expert map keeper and always was telling us where we should go (the zebras, everything was based on how soon we would go see them). We watched the flamingos for quite awhile. We also were not very good at remembering to take pictures but bonus points for remembering the camera and at least taking a couple. We enjoyed the bug world building but Keira was not liking all of the creepy crawlies all over the place. Of course after we left all she kept saying was "Mom can we go back to bug world?" Apparently it is a lot easier to be brave when you aren't actually there.

Oh and the people who made my blog background apparently deleted it so I had to choose another one. Rick is making me a new header to match it and he was suppose to have it up last night but apparently he did not do that. So hopefully it will be up soon.

Big News!

2010-07-20T13:32:00.000-07:00

Baby #3 is on the way! I am due Feb 11 and we are very excited to have another one. Rick wants a boy so we will just have to wait and see. :)

Blowing Out the Candles

2010-07-11T08:40:00.000-07:00

This is Keira and Elaina blowing out the candles on their cupcakes. I said that it made me nervous because I thought that Elaina was going to try to grab the flame of the candle and she didn't disappoint me! Crazy child!

Don't forget to look at the pictures of the party in the post below. We had a really fun party.

The Birthday Party

2010-07-11T08:19:00.000-07:00

Grandma Marcia has bikes for the girls at her house and she just got a big one with training wheels for Keira to try out. It took awhile for Keira to get the pedaling down but she was zooming around the backyard soon enough. She is so excited to go back and ride the bike again.

The girls were loving their little table outside. Usually it is inside for them to eat on so the picnic was a lot of fun for them!

Everyone enjoying their bbq. My dad grilled up hamburgers and hotdogs and fried up homemade french fries. It was all VERY good.

CHEESE!

Keira has been wanting a tool box with "kid tools" for a long time and was SOOO excited to finally get one.

Elaina's favorite toy was this birthday card she got. It has a pop up bunny inside. Glad everyone spent their money on actual toys. Pop up cards are much more interesting. ;)

Keira got Wall-E. She loves that movie and it went off Netflix instant play recently so we are lucky to have our own copy now. Can you see the look of excitement on her face? "ooooooo!"

We had chocolate cupcakes and Moosetracks ice cream for dessert. Who could ask for a better birthday party?

Keira's Birthday Day

2010-07-08T14:56:00.000-07:00

Keira had a fun day for her birthday. We are having her big birthday party for all of the family tomorrow combined with her sister but we still had fun. We had pizza for her birthday dinner because that is one of her favorite foods. Elaina likes it a little too. (they would eat a whole pizza between the two of them if I let them) Keira got to open her presents from Rick and me. She got a big pile of books and I think they were a big hit. You can never go wrong with a book at our house. For dessert we had brownies with all of the fixings. They were very good.

Random

2010-07-08T14:45:00.000-07:00

So I have actually been taking pictures lately but keep forgetting to put them on my computer. I guess I get bonus points just for getting the pictures taken but here is just some random bits of fun we have been having. Yesterday the girls got to play in the sprinkler because Summer finally decided to join us. They were loving it!

Addai came over to our house and he is getting to be so much fun. He can crawl and cruise so the girls were having fun playing with him. Isn't he so cute?

The girls had a picnic outside a couple weeks ago and thought they were so cool to eat outside.

Keira is ready to conquer the world. I would watch out if I were you.

Two sisters watching some TV. Can you tell they are related in any way? How did I get twins born two years apart?

Happy 4th Birthday Keira!

2010-06-30T08:06:00.000-07:00

Today is Keira's 4th birthday! She has been counting down the days since her last birthday. She is so excited. We have a fun day planned with her favorite things to do like going to the mall and the library and her favorite food, pizza, for dinner. We are so glad that she is a member of our family. She is a great big sister, a talented artist and extremely smart. She is learning to write her letters and numbers and is starting to read. She is always very curious and loves to learn about the world around her. She also loves to go to church and learn and sing about Jesus and the gospel. We can't wait to see what life holds for her and are so very thankful that she is our little girl. Happy Birthday Keira!

Scarface

2010-06-10T11:01:00.001-07:00

Elaina got her stitches out and the scarring was so bad the the doctor gave her a mask to cover up. ;)

No, everything went great. She fussed a little but it was much easier getting them out then in! She picked the mask as a prize for doing good and we were laughing at it for quite a while. The doctor doesn't even think that she will scar. So that is good news! At least if she did it would have been under her chin and no one would have noticed. Most people didn't even notice her stitches even though it looked like she had bright blue whiskers.

Elaina's Booboo

2010-06-04T08:48:00.001-07:00

Elaina fell and split her chin open on the side of the tub last night. So off to the ER we went. This is our first trip with one of the girls. I would hope it would be our last but knowing Elaina, probably not! She ended up with four stitches. The cut was down to the bone. Fun stuff! She was pretty good through most of the ordeal she just didn't like being tied down to get the stitches in and screamed bloody murder through the whole thing. The doctor said he had never heard a child scream so loud and nurses kept coming in the room wondering if we needed any help. Elaina doesn't throw many tantrums but when she does she always makes them count. We went and got some $1 McDonald's sundaes after and that made everything better.

Cheap Entertainment

2010-06-02T14:37:00.000-07:00

Making a fort is a favorite pass time for the girls. I can put the comforter up and they will play and play in there forever. I love it! This is as exciting as it gets for us most days. They are trying really hard to entertain themselves while mom and dad work. Rick locks himself in his room and works from morning until night (you never know when the boss is going to bust in to make sure you really are working. hehe!). I am on the other computer working my rear off as often as the girls will let me. It is quite the interesting set up and I am still trying to decide if it is really what I want but I guess it isn't all my choice. Rick is still interviewing for jobs to keep his unemployment until he either gets a job or we get the funding for our business. So many thing are up in the air right now. It drives me crazy!

There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe...

2010-05-15T07:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday our friends were removing their old roof to replace with a new roof so I volunteered to take care of a couple of their kids (the two older ones were at school and the new baby stayed with his mom). All of the kids had so much fun playing together. I even had Addai for awhile so their were 5 kids under the age of 4 at my house. It was chaos to say the least! This video is of them playing Ring Around the Rosies which they just started doing all by themselves. Very cute!!

Oh, and Rick was over at their house helping remove the roof. He can barely walk now and he is seriously sunburned. I am sure he got brownie points in heaven though. :)

The Roller Coaster Called Life

2010-05-09T15:35:00.001-07:00

So we have been having a fun couple of weeks playing with friends and spending time together. We have been going to the park when it is nice and yesterday we had a ward bbq. Life is never quiet though. Just when you get comfortable something hits you. On Friday, Rick got laid off. Again. We are not the nervous, crazy cases we were the first time. I think we have been so numb to the unemployment thing because we have been there, done that. We also have peace in the knowledge the Heavenly Father knows what we are going through and is there to help us. We also have lots of friends and family that are always there for us too. We have decided to start a business. We actually had started writing up a business plan and working on getting the financing needed to start the business. We will be doing the 3d Citykits full time. It is scary but we feel like we have been guided into this. It can't be pure coincidence that Rick got a strong feeling to start working on the business plan a month or so ago even though we had no way of knowing that his job was in any danger. I REALLY hope that it all works out so I don't have to work outside the home but we will see. If you can please keep us in your prayers we would appreciate it.

Keira and Elaina at the Park

2010-05-09T15:30:00.000-07:00

I finally figured out how to use the video on my camera (it isn't hard, I just forgot my camera had it) and took this cute video of my girls playing on the swings at the park by our house.

Keira's 4th Birthday List

2010-04-14T14:38:00.000-07:00

So I sat down with Keira today to make out her birthday list for birthday #4 (how is she that old already?!?) and this is what she came up with. These are all things she came up with on her own. I only helped clarify to write things down. I thought it was hilarious that she wanted dolls when she normally wants nothing to do with them. She is also my technology girl. She asked for her own website and ipad. How many 3 or 4 year olds want their own website? Wow. Enjoy.

Keira's 4th Birthday List

1)My Little Pony House

2)Kid Toolbox with kid tools

3)Restaurant toy

4)Kid computer

5)Princess and the Frog book

6)a website for my kid computer

7)ipad with a cord

8)dollhouse with a door

9)a bigger train set

10)a doll

11)kid board games and puzzles

12)books

13)legos with a doggie and a helicopter

14)candy and toy candy

15)a bed for the baby doll

More Easter Eggs?

2010-04-10T14:32:00.000-07:00

How many people are lucky enough to get to do an Easter egg hunt a whole week after Easter? We are! We got invited to Audrey's fifth birthday and she had an Easter egg hunt. My girls were so excited. Keira got right out there and found a ton of eggs but I was really surprised when Elaina figured it out as well. We couldn't get her to find any at home a week ago but apparently she had been fooling us because she sure knew how to find them today. After a week of being stuck at home because I was babysitting, it was the perfect way to get out again. :)

"Mom, I Got a DVD!!!"

2010-04-05T08:05:00.000-07:00

That is the first thing I heard Easter morning from the girls. Keira wasn't suppose to go into the living room until a parent was out there but she ran out and found that DVD. She got "The Princess and the Frog" if you can't tell. We are also super excited to put it on the Ipod touch so we can watch it ANYWHERE. So exciting. Keira was really good at finding the Easter eggs. (How many can you see in the 3rd picture down?) Elaina didn't get the whole finding thing but she did figure out that there was chocolate hidden in all of them and had everything in her eggs eaten before we even knew it. That girl can sniff out food anywhere!

We got to go over to Grandma Marcia and Grandpa JR's house (Gama and Gaba to Elaina) and Rick built a skyscraper with Keira. You wouldn't know that we had a ton of legos at our house because that is their favorite thing to do at Grandma's house. Elaina was being a goof so I took a picture. She is always the life of a party!! We had a great Easter. We hope you all did too.

Playdoh and Eggs

2010-04-05T07:56:00.000-07:00

Elaina didn't get to color Easter eggs this year (next year when she won't want to eat and drink everything we will try) so I put in a picture of her playing Playdoh for the first time with her sister. Yes, she tried to eat it but I think she decided it wasn't worth it. She was really good at copying everything her sister did with it and had lots of fun.

Keira got to color Easter eggs with her dad. They are both such creative people they just couldn't stick with coloring standard eggs (even though I really only got a picture of the standard eggs, whoops). If you look closely in the picture with Rick you will see he did a spotted egg that was really cool. They had a ton of fun with it and maybe if we can ever convince people in our house to eat the hard boiled eggs when we are done decorating them, we will be able to color more. I think I need to make potato salad this week or something. Anyone have good ideas for using up hard boiled eggs? No one in our house is a fan of eating them plain...

Sunny Days in Washington

2010-03-25T10:45:00.000-07:00

It was a beautiful day yesterday (in the low 70's!) so the girls got to go outside and play. Keira used to play outside by herself last summer but this year Elaina is big enough to be her playmate! She was so excited the first time I let Elaina go outside and play with her. Our yard was not in a good enough condition to let Elaina go out and crawl around in it last summer so she rarely went out there. Now she can walk and our grass seed that we planted last fall has filled in a lot of the yard so it is much nicer. It is still a work in progress but we try. Anyway, side walk chalk is our favorite outdoor past time so the girls played with that a lot. I came out to check on them and I found out that Elaina had been doing more artwork on her clothes than on the patio. She was COVERED. Good thing it washes out really easy.

Oh, and notice our poor Jada's back. She had a huge tumor growing on it and we finally took her into the vet and had it removed. This is after two weeks of healing. It was WAY worse when she came home from the vet after surgery. I didn't have enough guts to take a picture of it. It was bad. She has been taking her meds and the incision is healing really nicely. The dr doesn't think that she will have much scaring which is crazy. As for the tumor, it could reoccur but they got all of the bad cells out and she will be on benedryl for the rest of her life to keep it from popping up again. She should be fine though.

How do you Spell "I-pod"?

2010-03-08T10:37:00.000-08:00

So by our count, four babies can fit in a single umbrella stroller. Just in case you were wondering. Elaina is so good at taking care of her babies. I am always finding her feeding, burping and rocking her babies. She is going to make a good big sister eventually! (No this is not an announcement.) Oh and strollers can do some really good tricks. I think she learned this from her daddy. I am not taking credit for it.

Keira is getting really good at her letters. She says that is says "ipod touch." Someone obsessed much?

Duets

2010-03-04T07:17:00.000-08:00

Yesterday my friend, Dorothy, brought her two youngest kids over to play. They had lots of fun with all of the regular kid toys but they were fascinated with the piano. Julianna is a year older than Elaina but they are pretty much the same size. How cute are they playing a little duet? Max and Keira are just a couple months apart and actually had a lot of fun playing together. I think it helps that Keira is turning into such a tomboy. They both built guns out of the legos and ran around "shooting" each other. Oh boy.

Stylin'

2010-02-24T09:33:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, we went and got our hair cut. Elaina and I just got trimmed but Keira got a new hair style. She is loving the short hair. She has been asking for it for a while because she HATES having her hair combed. I decided it might relieve some tension in our house so I let her get it cut. I must say I really like it. It is very cute. She was a little mad at me this morning when I said that she still had to comb her hair. I guess she was under the impression that if it was shorter she wouldn't have to comb it at all. Elaina wanted her pictures taken too, and this is how she posed because she was SO excited that I was taking her picture. What cute girls!

Also, thanks Elisa for cutting our hair! You always do such a great job!

Birthday Party

2010-02-16T08:36:00.000-08:00

On Saturday Keira got to go to her first birthday party for a friend from Sunbeams. They had it at a dance studio and got to do a lot of fun things. I kind of wanted to stick around and see what was going on but she didn't mind me leaving, so I wanted to encourage some independence. She has gotten so good about letting her parent's leave her places and trusting that she will be ok and that we WILL be back for her! What a big girl! Anyway, she got to have her fingernails painted for the first time (they were shocked that she had never had her nails painted. I don't even own nail polish!) and she picked bright pink for her debut. So cute. She also got a cool valentines day sucker for a party favor and was so excited about it. We have been listening to stories about the party all weekend so I am so glad she had a good time.

Flowers

2010-02-11T08:20:00.000-08:00

My husband and I aren't much for celebrating Valentines Day but he brought me home flowers yesterday. He doesn't do it often because I am the only wife in the world who isn't big on flowers but it was nice to be thought of. I love you Rick!

Napping and Playing

2010-02-11T08:15:00.000-08:00

Keira hasn't been taking naps for a good 6 months or more. She absolutely refuses and since she isn't usually crabby we have decided that it is ok (even though it means I don't get a break). Yesterday she was playing on the couch with some toys while her sister was taking a nap and I was working on the computer. I noticed that it had gotten quiet so I turned around and this is what I saw. I guess all of the errands we ran had worn her out.

We have been having so much fun with Addai over at our house 3 days a week. Both girls love playing with him but Elaina is my helper. She is always bringing stuff to him, helps throw out his dirty diapers (one disappeared a couple days ago when I was changing him and I found it later in a diaper bag. The logic is sound I guess), and cheer him up when he is sad. She loves to come up to him and say "hi" and tickle his belly just like I do. She imitates everything I do with him including trying to pick him up one day. Thankfully he didn't even leave the ground. Keira isn't too into babies but Elaina is really loving them both, real and baby dolls. It is fun to watch.

Elaina

2010-02-04T10:22:00.001-08:00

Elaina had her 18 month well child appointment this week and is a growing girl! She is 34 inches tall and weighs 30 lbs. She is in the 98% for both and is the average size a of 2 year old. She is a big girl but healthy and happy and so much fun.

In the top pictures we see her gangster/stripper side. She decided she didn't want to be dressed the other day and was successful at getting off her shirt but not so much with her jeans.

She used to be attached to just one blanket but now she wants three! No kidding. One is not good enough. If she gets upset, tired or just needs to snuggle she get all three out of her crib or stands there and screams until someone else does if she can't reach them. Today she was also chewing on a teether because she has some teeth coming in so it was even more cute. I can't wait until it gets warmer and I can phase some of the blankets out of her crib. It does get to be a bit much. I love my girls!

Living the Life

2010-01-25T14:32:00.000-08:00

We have been doing a whole lot of not much at our house lately. I started putting some pony tails in Elaina's hair and then tried to get her to sit still so I could get some pictures of them. Silly me! That girl has no time to sit still.

Keira had me build her bunk bed into a fort which we haven't done for awhile so she insisted that I take a picture of her with it. She also wanted me to get her brand new pajama pants in the picture. Yay for clearance racks!

I started babysitting a little 4 1/2 month old boy named Addai last week and we have been having a lot of fun with him. He is so tiny and sweet and loves to play with the girls. He thinks they are hilarious! I propped him up so he could play legos with them and he loved it and hung out there for the longest time.

Update: Keira is still going to Sunbeams by herself and LOVING it. That girl just needed more structure in her life I think. Nursery is too big of a free for all for her. Elaina has been going to nursery for the past couple of weeks by herself and doing so good too. We did get a little scared when we came out of Rick's setting apart yesterday (he is the new ward executive secretary) and someone told us that they had found Elaina wandering the hallways. She had escaped nursery! Scary! Thankfully they knew who she was and who she belonged to but they couldn't find us since we were in the bishop's office, so they took her to the primary president, who took her back to nursery. I am glad I didn't know she was missing until she had already been found again. That girl!

Sunbeams Building Space Needles

2010-01-12T08:57:00.000-08:00

Keira and Elaina both love playing with legos. They have gotten legos for the past two Christmases and Grandma Marcia has tons of them too. They are always building things and Keira has gotten really creative. Today she brought this one to me and told me it was the Space Needle. Pretty close! I like how she added the flower on top to give it the look of the Space Needle. She has only seen it once in real life when we went and visited her Daddy at his office and she is fascinated with all of the big buildings of the city. We will have to get rich one of these days and take her up in the Space Needle. She would love it.

On another note, Keira has officially gone to Sunbeams twice so far. As many people know, she hated going to nursery by herself. She didn't mind going to nursery but Rick usually had to go with her. We were afraid it would just carry on to Sunbeams but with a little bribery and blackmail she went last week all by herself. She had so much fun and was so excited, when she left church, that she had a crown to wear (handout from the lesson) and some goldfish to eat. On Sunday, I didn't even have to ask her if she wanted to go. She kept asking me all through Sacrament meeting if it was time for Sunbeams yet. Her teacher was sitting right behind us and I said as soon as her teacher left than we could go. You have never seen a kid bolt for the primary room as quickly as Keira went when her teacher got up. She sat down right in the front row and started talking to the Primary presidency (talking?, to adults? amazing) about how her teacher was on Facebook (I showed her that her teacher was on Facebook to get her excited for Sunbeams and it worked! That girl loves technology). Since I am the primary pianist, I get to watch her in singing time and sharing time and she loves it. She was singing along and participated when her name was drawn. I am so proud of her! I think she loves the structure more of Primary then she did with nursery. Here is hoping for a much smoother ride from now on. Elaina officially starts nursery at the end of the month so we are excited to hopefully be kid free during church. It will be nice.

Boxes, Dishes and Yogurt

2010-01-06T15:47:00.000-08:00

I bought a glass dish online last week with some giftcards I got for Christmas. It came today. You see the dish. The next pictures are ALL of the packaging apparently required to ship it. A box within a box wrapped in paper and bubble wrap. I kid you not. At least the dish was intact.

I finally went grocery shopping this morning since we have been waiting for payday and the girls were so excited that I bought yogurt. It is one of their favorite treats by far. I like to buy the vanilla yogurt and then mash in thawed, frozen strawberries. So you can see that Elaina was enjoying it as much as she could. She was saying "Sheese" for the camera. It was too cute.

Happy 6th Anniversary!

2010-01-03T07:56:00.000-08:00

Rick and I are celebrating our 6th anniversary today. The first picture is from our senior prom in May 2002. We were best friends at the time but look where that got us! ;) The second picture is from our wedding and the third was just taken a couple months ago. I also just wanted to prove that I HAVE dressed up for some major occasions but it may never happen again.

I am so happy that I married Rick. I am so happy that he decided to get involved with a mormon girl and then decide my religion wasn't as crazy as he though it was and learned for himself that it is the true church. I am so blessed to have the priesthood in my home. I am thankful that we were able to be sealed for time and all eternity a year after our marriage. I am so grateful that my girls were born in the covenant and (hopefully) have righteous parents to look up to. I am so grateful that Rick and I have such a long history together so we can make fun of each other for every dumb thing we did in high school. :) I look forward to all we have ahead of us, good and bad. I love you, Rick! Happy Anniversary!

Exercise and Style

2009-12-29T18:05:00.000-08:00

Keira got this fun exercise and movement DVD from my mom for Christmas. We just opened it up today and this is what we got. Before I opened it, Keira ran in her room and got her winter coat headband and put it on her head. By herself. Where did she learn this? I have never worn anything like that and I can't think of anywhere she would have seen it. The rest of the outfit is also hers. She refuses to wear pants half of the time we are at home. She tends to go potty more by herself when she is just like this so I usually allow it. Needless to say, I couldn't stop laughing and when I took the picture she wouldn't look at me and told me to quit taking her picture. I think that might be her teenage self coming out because she knows that she is going to be majorly embarrassed by these pictures later in life. So funny. The DVD is a success though. She has done it twice today. Really good thing to have for us homebodies that forget to get exercise most days. Maybe she will have better habits than me.

Christmas Day with the Inmans

2009-12-26T08:12:00.000-08:00

We had a great time on Christmas with the Inmans. We got to open MORE presents (Keira was just loving it!) and we helped Grandma and Grandpa open theirs. We got lots of fun things from Argentina from Aunt Andrea but the best present of all is that she is home. Rick did get a pretty cool hat though. Too bad those Argentinians are much smaller than these 6'4 Americans. Elaina looked darn cute in it.

After lots of food, fun and games, Keira got to help frost some gingerbread men that Aunt Andrea baked. Good thing we had lots of practice! The best part was eating all of the fun cookies.

We had a great Christmas and hope that everyone else did as well. Hopefully we all took time to remember the reason for the season.

Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year!