June 3rd- June 9th 2012

We have been struggling lately and have been frustrated with a few things. Life just gets frustrating and overwhelming sometimes. Anyhow, on our way out the door for church on Sunday, I quickly checked my cell phone. I noticed I had a text message. It was from Tawnie. She was just letting me know that her and John were going to fast for us and would ask their children to do so if they chose to. She said she didn't know anything that was going on, other than she felt we could use a little extra help.

Wow! I am constantly amazed with Tawnie. She is always so inspired, so in tune with the spirit and what others may need. She amazes me and I am grateful for her. I am grateful she takes the time to think about others and act on the promptings that she receives.

Now for other weekly highlights...

Our girls love ice cream cones. Probably cause their mama loves ice cream cones! We stopped and got one on Thursday evening. The end result... is a big mess. But, a very yummy big mess.

Our cute girl. She loves to play with her daddy's Iphone. She especially loves to take pictures.

Happy 5 Years to us!

Saturday we celebrated our 5 year anniversary. It also happened to be the Questar Gas Rodeo. We decided we had to go to the rodeo since that is where 'we' began. Ryan tried the expert event, the girls decorated sugar cookies, we watched a few of the events, ate a yummy lunch and then headed home. While relaxing on the couch when we got home, we decided to watch out wedding video. I am so glad we have it. It's so fun to watch every year. Our wedding day still seems like it was yesterday. I am sure there are a few details I don't remember about that day, but I feel like I remember it like it just happened yesterday. It was also fun seeing our old baby pictures on the video and seeing how much our girls look like us. I see so much of myself in Ellie and so much of Ryan in Kailee. The girls also had fun watching it with us and seeing mom and dad getting 'weddinged'. Later in the evening, we went to dinner at the Roof Restaurant at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. Yuuuummmmyyy! It was for sure the nicest restaurant we have ever been to. And, the food was really good. It was such a neat environment. Happy 5 years to us!! What a fun day.

May 27th- June 2nd 2012

For Memorial Day, Ryan and I ran the Striders Memorial Day 5k in Syracuse city. Ryan was originally registered to run the half marathon, but wasn't able to do it because of his leg injury. I hadn't taken the time to run consistently before the race, so it seemed kinda hard. Around mile 2.5 my knee started to hurt and I was certain I was going to have to walk. I kept going and finished with a time of 31:26 with a 10:08/m pace. My personal best so far. (Other than the Pink 5k, but that was all downhill, so I can't count that time!!)

Ryan, the dedicated one, consistently trained before the race so he didn't struggle like I did. He started the race and totally took off. He said when he started he kept passing people and was worried he had started too quick. He kept up with the speed, beat his personal record with a 08:04/m pace and finished with a time of 25:01. My mom and Steph even got up waaaay early so they could go with us to watch the girls in the freezing cold weather. What a great family to support us! 

The weather has been really nice this week, so I have tried to make lots of time to play outside (or at least be outside.) We made a trip to the library for some new books and made several trips to DownEast for the tent sale. Most of our time was spent swimming. We set up the whale pool from Grandma Colleen and the pink ring pool and spent most of each morning outside playing. Until Friday. Ellie woke up sick and throwing up. I was hoping to have some neighbor girls over for a swim party, but we spent the day in the house cleaning and sanitizing everything instead. At one point I went upstairs to quickly change and fold some laundry and when I came back downstairs I found Ellie asleep on the couch. She stayed there sound asleep for a few hours. Poor girl. Yes, I did get her dressed for the day. But, after she soiled two outfits, I decided to leave her in her diaper till she felt a little better. I did cover her with a blanket after I got the picture!

 Luckily, the rest of us haven't ended up with the bug. Yet.

Friday, right after work, Ryan headed out to Grandma Kate's house to meet John so they could help her with some of her yard/house projects. It was a loooong day. Right at the end of my day, when we were winding down and I had almost had enough, Tawnie text me to see how we were doing. Then she ended up calling. It was certainly a nice break from the monotony of our day. I am grateful for my sisters and for their phone calls! Ryan made it home around 9pm. Sometimes it is so hard to have him gone, doing stuff for other people when we are already stretched for time. But then I remember that service is what we are supposed to be doing. Including service for our family. So, that is what we will do. Even with a good attitude!

Early afternoon on Saturday, Ryan was gone again to help my mom and sister. They both had some garbage that needed to be taken to the dump. He made it back home around 2pm just to stay outside to cover our gardens with mulch/compost.  Even though the gardens are lacking in the plant area, they look so much better with the mulch there. Both girls spent the rest of the day outside with him. They would go between their pools, swing set, trampoline and everything else in the yard and garage. They are good at keeping each other company and they are getting to the point they are 'mostly' kind to each other.

And, just because I think they are cute...

Ellie likes to ride Kailee's 'Happy Birthday Bike' but Kailee doesn't like her to. They finally found a solution! Cute, cute girls! 

May 20th- May 26th 2012

Sunday was our Regional Conference and our stake was invited to go to the Conference Center. I was so excited for that. I love being there. It was interesting being there with two little girls. It was hard to keep them entertained and quiet and listen at the same time. But, it was still nice to have a change of scenery from the typical Sunday.

After the meeting, we walked through the temple grounds. It is always so nice to be there. It's so peaceful and is a change from the outside world. Once we were there I wished I would have prepared a lunch for us. It would have been fun to have a picnic there in the warm weather.

Ellie had her very first haircut on Monday! She was starting to grow a mullet so we decided it was time to cut it off. We took her to Cookie Cutters in Bountiful. She chose to sit in the blue car and they put on a Sesame Street movie for her. She wasn't too excited about it, but ended up doing alright. Her hair looks so cute now and I can feel better knowing that I am not that mom who lets her child have a mullet.

Kailee had her 3 year old Dr. Appt on Thursday. 

Along with her weight and height, they checked her blood pressure, pulse and BMI. They even used the big kid scale for her!

Her stats from this appt were: 

Weight- 30lbs, 4oz (50%)

Height-37 1/2" (50%)

BMI- 15.12% (25%)

Blood Pressure- 106/72

Pulse 94

Her weight and height have leveled. She used to be in the 90th percentile, but has moved to the 50th percentile. I thought that was pretty interesting. I thought she would take after Ryan's family and be tall, but maybe she will take after me and be shorter? We will see!

We also learned that Dr. Fruin will be retiring soon. She has had some health issues and has found it hard to maintain that along with working so much. I am sooooo disappointed. Dr. Fruin has seen both girls since they were born. She knows us and knows the girls. We know her, trust her and the girls were getting used to her. We have gotten used to how she is. I am totally bummed. I do hope the best for her though and understand why she made the decision. 

I hope we will be just as comfortable with whoever we choose to see next time. UGH!

May 13th- May 19th 2012

Happy 3rd Birthday Princess Kailee!

Kailee's birthday was on Sunday along with Mothers Day! 

How exciting to share a special day with her.

I can't believe my girl is 3 already. She is so fun and loving. She is so smart and learns something new every single day. Sometimes I have to remind myself that she is only 3. To me she seems to act older than she is. Right now she is all about Rapunzel. She watches that movie a lot. She loves to wear her poofy skirt and dance, sing and twirl. She is all girl right now.

She was a lucky girl and got a regular outfit (a shirt and skirt), a birthday shirt, princess skirt and jewelry, the Rapunzel Soundtrack, and of course, a Rapunzel dress. She was in heaven!

For church I had her wear her birthday shirt and her favorite poofy skirt.

After church we showed her the trampoline. We carried her outside with her eyes covered and sat her on it. She was really excited when she opened her eyes and saw it.

The nursery leaders had the girls make a really cute hand cut out with a poem that said...This is the hand that you use to hold when I was only 3 years old. Happy Mothers Day 2012 Love Kailee. I loved it. What a perfect gift. It even brought tears to my eyes. They tried to have Ellie make one too, but she wouldn't let them trace her hand.

After church Ryan had a cherry tree and some flowers set out for me for Mothers Day.

Grandma Colleen came up to celebrate with Kailee. She gave her a pink scooter that lights up and plays music. Kailee was very excited about that too! 

Kailee also had a visit from Grandma Carla and Aunt Steph and family. They gave her bubbles, a disc gun, and lots and lots of dance tights. The girls were excited to be able to play with their cousins for a little bit and share the trampoline with them!

Happy Birthday Kailee and Happy Mothers Day to me! What a special fun-filled day for us both!

After dinner and a bath we had an ice cream cake for Kailee. Of course, it was a Rapunzel cake!

Kailee's last day of PlaySchool was on Wednesday. Definitely a bittersweet day. I am so glad that we participated so she would have that time with her friends and to get out of the house, but I am so glad that I will not have to be in charge of it once every other month. I only had to do it 3 times, but that was for sure enough for me. 

For the last day they had a swim party at the Parkinsons. They had the sprinklers on and ate popsicles. Ellie and I stayed there the whole time. I visited with two of the other moms and Ellie went back and forth from playing with Kailee to sitting on my lap. 

From Left to Right: Kenzie Lawson, Kyson Hoggan, Andrew Hill, Chloe Richards, Sophie Bailey, Kailee Jamison, Jonah Knapp and Gus Parkinson.

Kailee had a dance recital rehearsal Friday evening at the Layton Conference Center and that was quite the experience. She acted so shy and didn't want to sit with her class. I was finally able to get her playing and running around with her friends, but she wouldn't let me leave her. I ended up staying in the dressing room with her until it was time for her to wait in line to go on stage. When her class got on the stage and the music started she went to the corner of the stage and yelled for me. 

At that moment I was definitely nervous for the actual recital!

Saturday was the Dance Concert. Before we left the house Ryan gave Kailee a blessing so she would feel relaxed and do her best. She was so funny with the blessing and didn't want to have one. But, Ryan did it with her fussing and moving. 

The concert started at 9am. Luckily, Kailee's class was the 9th number so we didn't have to wait too long. Just as the night before, Kailee didn't want me to leave her in the dressing room and didn't want to stay with her class. When it was time for her class to line up, her teacher carried her. Then, her teacher carried her on the stage. When the music started she just stood there and looked around. The poor little thing looked terrified. Before the rehearsal, she had never been on a stage in a large, dark room, with a bunch of strangers looking at her! 

I was a bit disappointed, but I was ok with her just standing there. I am glad she didn't run off the stage.

Now I am wondering, do I keep her in dance to get used to it? Take her out until she is older? What to do?

We told Kailee if she danced, we would fill up her pool and let her swim. That's what we did the rest of the day while Ryan worked in the yard.

My crazy Ellie has started to take off her clothes. I don't remember Kailee doing that. Sometimes I think these girls are exactly the same, but they are also complete opposites. Strange how that works.

May 6th- May 12th 2012

Kailee had dance pictures on Monday and it was soooo fun to get her ready for them. She was cute and sat as still as she could while I curled her hair at the kitchen counter. She looked so cute in her dance costume with her hair all curly. 

I tried to prepare her all day to try to help her so she wouldn't be nervous. But, as soon as we got to the studio and she saw all the people, she got nervous. 

I was able to get her to stand by her friends, but she didn't want to pose or smile.

Then came the individual pictures. At first she didn't even want to stand on the set, after a break and a bribe for ice cream, she stood on the set but again wouldn't pose or smile. 

That's ok. I understand how she feels. I love "real life" pictures and that's what we got.

We did get some really cute pictures before we left and when we came home. I love her little personality and one day everyone else will get to see it too!

My two girls. 

Occasionally Ellie will get her booster seat out and play in it. Thursday morning she decided that she wanted to sit in it on the floor and eat her cereal. I was a little nervous about it because she seems to spill everything, but I decided to let her have fun. She enjoyed sitting there and didn't even make a mess!

Kailee was perfectly happy eating at the counter. I am surprised because they usually have to have and do the same exact things.

On Friday Anna and Katy came to stay with us while Jolie and Sean ran a relay from Gardner Village to Roy. Kailee and Ellie were super excited to have them over and to be up really, really late.
On Saturday after I finished Kailee's scrapbook for her birthday, we packed a lunch and went to Layton Commons Park to eat and play. We stayed there for a couple hours and they all seemed to have lots of fun.
While we were at the park, Ryan was out running errands for Kailee's birthday. He went to a couple different stores to look for the best deal on a trampoline. It seemed like such a big and expensive present for her, but we figured both girls would enjoy it all summer. I am so excited for her to see it put up in the yard!

My original idea for Kailee's present was to take her to the Disney Store at City Creek and let her pick out a princess dress. But since we had cousins with us, and we got the trampoline, we decided not to do the City Creek date.  My friend Alison had told me that she had an extra Rapunzel dress that I could just buy from her so I thought I would just do that. Once we dropped off the cousins, we went to meet Alison and her family at City Creek to pick up the dress from her. We ate dinner with them at the food court and then headed home for long evening of getting things ready for Kailee's birthday! It will be so exciting to see her when she sees her gifts!