Birthday Girl

We celebrated Kenzie's birthday this week.  I love watching her grow up.  She is so funny and such a blessing to our family.  When we decided to have a fourth child it was definitely a big decision.  We both just kind of felt like "now or never" and then did a big gulp and decided to go for it.  Of course we are so glad that we did.  We could not imagine our life without her.  Our family just didn't seem complete without her.

She loved her summer dance class!  We got to observe on the last day and I love this picture of her!  She's a sweet girly-girl with a spunk that just draws you to her.

Kelly's gift to Kenzie was a new Barbie--and a Barbie cake!  Kelly baked it, made the frosting, put most of it together, and decorated it.  Obviously, you can tell from this picture that she learned a lot.  Sadly, right after these pictures the whole thing started to fall apart.  However, Kenzie loved it!  She thought it was the most beautiful cake ever, and that's what matters. (That and it tasted fantastic!)

Here she is with her new Rapunzel barbie--cake free.

I love this picture because the camera angle makes the gift appear to be huge!  It really wasn't that big.

Kevin was the official "remover of packaging" so that Kenzie could enjoy her baby doll.

I took this picture because I thought it was so fun that Kate and Kelly were playing dress-up.  We are truly enjoying our summer, especially on Kenzie's special day.

I just realized that we didn't take any pictures of what we did that day!  We invited some friends to go swimming with us and then went back to our house for cake and ice cream.  It was the perfect way to enjoy the day!  Thanks P family for coming with us and helping us celebrate Kenzie.  We are so grateful for you!

Kenzie, we love you beautiful girl.  We are so proud of you and the way that you are growing up.  You are learning and growing so much and we are blessed to have you in our family.

Where did March go?

There really are pictures in this post!  I can't figure out why it's turning out this way-any suggestions?  Anyway, if you click on the little squares where the pictures should be they will come up. 

I can't believe that March is almost over!  I pretty much burn the candle at both ends these days and have meant to post more often, but never really had the chance.  We've had a busy and enjoyable month so far and love that spring is in the air!

We actually celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary this month.  Celebrate is used rather loosely here, the day of our anniversary was so busy!  It was wonderful that Justin was in town that week-especially since both the elementary and middle schools had their open houses, along with Jubilee practice, YW, scouts, 80's day and another drama performance for Kelly.  So, no surprise that we really didn't do anything special.  Our big excitement for the day was ordering pizza from Papa Murphy's and having dinner by candlelight-which I didn't even get to eat at the same time with everyone because I was on play duty for Kelly.  Oh well.  Really, it's fine.  Actually--Justin did surprise me with some diamond earrings!  They're small round ones and I love them.  I'll have to get a picture with them sometime.--Thank you sweetheart!  More lovey stuff later.  For now here are some pictures of 80's day and Kelly in her "costume" for drama.

They had both gotten new tennis shoes the night before-so no matter what they were going to where them.  The outfits are a little stretch, but that's what happens when you're putting things together at the last minute because you don't have any other option.  I had a blast styling Kate's hair--it's amazing how I remembered exactly how to do the bangs like it was yesterday.  It made me smile and laugh.  That is the only time Kevin will ever wear a polo shirt-if it's to dress up.  If I were to suggest it on any other day he adamantly refuses to wear it-go figure!

Kelly as "Jillian" a sassy clothing boutique owner.  Thank goodness for Plato's Closet!  Thats where we found the skinny jeans and accessories.  Except for the belt-we found that on sale at Charming Charlies for $2!  She loved this part and these clothes--bonus that she can actually wear them to school!  I love that!

Still feeling a little sassy! :)

And now a little letter.

Dear Justin,

 Thank you so much for loving me all these years.  You never tire of me, well if you do, you don't show it.  You make me laugh and bring fun and happiness to my life.  We've had some ups and downs and I am stronger because you helped me through.  I'm grateful that you have chosen to spend eternity with me.  I am blessed to be your wife.  Happy Anniversary!  I love you!

Janet

Belly Laughs

I think that this is one of the best sounds ever!

We are celebrating this girl's 2nd birthday this week!  {I'll post more on that later}.  It's hard to believe.  She's the only one in our family to have moved 3 times and live in 3 different states before the age of 2--poor thing!

She is growing up so much.  She loves her older sister Kate--they spend most of their time together.  She has been calling her "Kate Sister" instead of just "Kate" because she just adores her and is so proud to be her sister.  It's pretty cute.

She is the girliest girl in our family.  Her favorite color is pink and I've given up trying to put shorts on her.  She prefers to wear dresses all the time.  She loves anything ballerina and will dance when given the opportunity.  She doesn't like it when people watch her dance so you have to pretend to be doing something else or she gets embarrassed.

We love having her in our family.  She brings makes all of us happy and we can't imagine our family without her!

A Good Picture of My Life

This picture caught my eye last month.  It just seemed an appropriate representation of this phase of my life--small handprint(s) on the mirror.

I can't adequately express why, but when I look at this it makes me smile.  It's so easy to get caught up in everyday things that we forget to slow down and just enjoy.

Sometimes there is pressure from the world to be more than, "...just a mom;"  but when we really think about it the time we have with our children is so short!  I want to drink in every moment I have with my kids--even the messy ones.  Maybe especially the messy ones that involve handprints on the mirror.  Those hands grow so quickly, mirrors get cleaned--eventually.  Will we remember how wonderful it all was?

I hope so.

Humbled

{Kelly, November 2008}


For some goofy reason I cannot get my text to center--oh well.

O.k. so how to express what I want to without getting too personal.  The last couple of years we've had our share of ups and downs, heavier on the downs--I'm not going to lie.  You know we just get this one life and we have to make the best of it.  Sometimes that means learning things the hard way.  Justin and I are striving to figure out what it is we need to know so that we can move on and make some real progress towards reaching the goals we have for our family.  So, yes, I've had a lot on my mind and in my heart lately as I try to make the best of things.

Tonight I was up late helping Kevin with a report for school, (seriously thank goodness there are only a few days left!)  And Kelly, in her sweet and tender way came down to see if she could help.  However, her real motive was to secretly leave me a letter of encouragement.  Here are excerpts from that letter,

"...I love my job, being the big sister can be pretty stressful sometimes but it's worth it.

"I'm worried about you...I know things are tough but if we pray and pay our tithing we'll be okay.

"Mom we're going to be okay.

"All across the bible people have gotten into tough situations but God has helped them get through and he will do the same for us."

-Kelly

So yes, I am humbled and grateful for such a beautiful, wonderful daughter who knew just what I needed.

Growing Up Too Fast!

This is my baby. She is almost 9 months old and experiencing new milestones almost daily. I knew that this time was coming. In fact, sometimes I longed for it. However, now that it's actually here, it feels a little bittersweet for me. In the last couple of weeks she has had her first teeth break through and she has started to army crawl all over the place! She is no longer happy with mushy baby food and wants to use her tiny little teeth on everything. She is so happy when I put rice or mushy, thawed out peas on the table for her to pick up and eat all by herself. When you try to sit her down she will stay stiff as a board. To her dismay I've ended up just laying her down because she absolutely will not sit! If she had any say in the matter she'd be running around like everyone else!

What can I say. My children are growing up. I hope that I have made the most of it so far and I am definitely resigned to relish as much as I can the rest of the way.