March catch-up!

It is no surprise but time is flying by as usual. The weather here in Utah is all over the place...one day it is Spring the next it is a blizzard. We headed with the kids to Sundance for Ian's last day of skiing lessons and surprisingly no one needed a coat. It was warm and sunny which did not make for the best skiing but the kids didn't mind.

The end of February we celebrated my 29th birthday. Daddy and Ava built a new coat rack for guests and put in a shoe cabinet. I think these two pictures are my absolute favorite! You can see how much Tim loves Ava in the first picture and how much Ava loves her daddy in the second picture. So sweet!

That evening the boys decided it would be fun to go and see the Lego movie for my birthday! We all agreed and had a blast! We spotted this Muppets advertisement on the way out and the boys thought they would join in ;) 

Ian was also a "Very Important Person" the first week of March. The whole family went to his class and talked about how wonderful he is! He even showed them how he can always make his sister smile and laugh :) So cute! All of the little kindergartners started giggling along with her.  Ian was VIP for the whole week...he gets to be the line leader, lead the pledge, all other kinds of important things. Unfortunately the next day round two of the dreaded winter bug hit and Ian missed the rest of the school week :(

When Ian told Aaron that they say the Pledge of Allegiance at school he was so excited to show us that he already knew the Pledge of Allegiance. Don't forget to turn up your sound ;)

As usual this nasty cold made it's way through the whole family. Somehow Ian and I ended up with a mild cold. Poor Tim, Ava and Aaron had an awful cold. Aaron loved taking nice hot showers to help with his congestion. He was seriously confused for a good 4 minutes before Tim started recording this video...poor boy just felt awful but still managed to give us a good laugh. Don't worry the video is clean :)

At just over nine months this little girl finally cut her first tooth. Her bottom right! You can just barely see her pearly white tooth poking through. 

I finally caught a decent video of her crawling. Yes she always goes after the boys toys which Aaron is not too happy about.

We headed to Logan for a quick baby shower for a friend one weekend. Ava decided that she loves Grandpa's hat. She also still likes to crawl over things, and goes after all electronics.

When we were in Logan the boys and I got some nice haircuts! Ian has been begging to cut his hair short so I finally agreed. Well almost -I wouldn't let him cut it like his dad (no buzz cuts) especially with family pictures coming up. The boys have been the best of friends (for about five minutes) but mostly enemies the other 23 hrs and 55 minutes. Occasionally when they are getting along I usually take a picture just to remind myself that they really do love each other.

Just another ordinary day!

One things is for sure everyone loves this cutie!

She is still growing way to fast and thinks it is hilarious to stand up in her crib and wait for me to get her. Or she moves to the other side and chews on her mobile. 

What I want I get!

It's official this little cutie is clearly a diva in the making! She is now nine months old and moving...everywhere! If she wants something there is a high possibility that someone will get it for her or she will find a way to get it herself!

At her nine month appointment her pediatrician couldn't believe how perfect she was :) We completely agree!  

Weight......16 lbs 10 oz.....22nd percentile

Height.......27.5 in.....41st percentile

Head Circumference....43 1/4 cm....31st percentile

She eats everything (except the eggs, nuts, and honey of course). She is crawling everywhere and doesn't let anything get in her way. She pulls up to a stand on furniture, people, and anything taller than her. She is slowly starting to transfer from one piece of furniture to a nearby (a few inches away) toy. She loves her brothers and they love her. She tends to stare people down and then give them her killer smile. She loves playing peek-a-boo. Dog toys are her favorite. Unfortunately she has also discovered the dog food and water bowl. Ryder eats his food extremely fast so there is never food left over but she loves dumping his water all over herself and the floor. She loves bath time and splashing in the water. We recently went swimming at a friends house and she loved playing in the pool! She is suddenly growing like a weed. She has officially outgrown all of her 3-6 months clothes, was in 9 month clothes for about a week,  and is now in 12 month clothes. She is growing up too fast. She also loves to babble and grunt. Can't imagine life without her! So blessed :)

MacNair Ski visit

Just as we were about of over our first round of the dreaded winter cold Tim's family arrived. Thankfully for them we were just about over it -which hopefully meant they were not going to get it. Don't worry they actually did not get sick. The boys loved have family around and thankfully Maddie was wonderful reading with them, playing superhero's, coloring, building Lego's, and doing anything the boys could think of.

Ava also loved the company. You have to be a little careful and cautious around little miss grabby hands. If you get too close there is a high chance she might pinch and pull. Ava also enjoyed her first time sitting in a high chair at the restaurant. She spent most of the time trying to steal Nana's plate, drink. and placemat. 

Of course we had to get in some skiing. The boys loved going all together as a family. 

As you can see Ian has no fear....still! Just like his dad he wants to find the best powder and zoom through the trees. Thankfully it was really steep here so I was glad to see that he slowed down a little.

Ian also likes to ski backwards like his dad. Aaron loves skiing and is doing great with his turns (when he feels like it). I think skiing has become he favorite activity -as long as it is accompanied with chocolate milk. 

Cousin Maddie showing the kids what not to do with their ski poles. I can't believe Maddie's arms did not get tired! Sweet Maddie was so excited to be skiing I think every video and picture she is excitingly waving her ski poles in the air :)

Of course after a little while the lodge does get kind of boring. So when Aaron would take a break we would do our best to keep entertained. Aaron and I had fun sending funny picture messages back and forth to my family. This one was my favorite!

When we weren't skiing we usually lounged around the house and relaxed. With the occasional movie night! Tim took this panorama of us all watching a movie. It is quite possible that Jim is actually asleep sitting up :)



A few times we headed into town. The kids spotted the carousel and had to ride. Even sweet Ava loved the carousel!

We had a great time and can't believe how fast time flew by.

 We are looking forward to seeing them in June and finally getting to meet our little niece Charlotte! I can only imagine how much fun these two girls will have together! I am sure they will just look at each other and giggle like sweet babies do :)

Winter Bug

For once this winter we have finally been healthy! It seems everyone around us was getting sick and by some miracle we didn't catch a thing.  Or so we thought! I was talking to another good friend about how thankful I was that we have been very healthy this winter. Wouldn't you know that literally the next week after our conversation all of us started going downhill. It was awful! As I am now getting catch up 

 It started with Ian. Crazy high fevers (104-105) that lasted for 8 days. No other symptoms just an insanely high fever that medicated would usually come down to about 101 but it was miserable. Ian handled it so well and was quite happy laying in his bed or on the couch watching as many movies as he would like. About five days into Ian's cold it hit me :(  Crazy high fever and miserable. Tim of course was on his run of 6 day shifts  (which means he is gone for about 15 hours from 6 am- around 9 pm) I think those where the longest days of my life! I started feeling even worse and told Tim he had to take a sick day and help me out around the house -he wasn't too happy to take a sick day since it was "just a cold." Needless to say he did so anyway and I headed to the doctors office. Besides the fevers, I had a horrible sinus infection, double ear infection, and both my eyes were infected. Lets not forget the puking....ewww. My doctor was almost laughing he has never seen anyone with everything -leave it to me! Ava had no chance see caught the nasty fever strand as well. Thankfully it only lasted a few days. Tim ended up taking another day off of work to help out with all us sickos around the house. He even made me my grandma's chicken noodle soup and got me beautiful flowers for valentines day.

Ava got it next. High fevers and runny nose -thankfully it only lasted a few days. Tim ended up catching it too. Somehow Aaron lucked out and did not end up with even a mild cold! He must have Tim's immunity. 

Even when she is sick she manages to still have the brightest smile :) I couldn't resist and ordered a few clothes for this summer -swimsuit, hat, couple pairs of pj's, romper, and shirt all for $28! Now you know why I couldn't resist -love a great deal. She was loving her new hat. I am a little nervous now because she seems to be growing so fast, I hope they still fit this summer.

As of February 13th Ava is now 8 months old. It seems like we were impatiently waiting her arrival just weeks ago. She loves saying "dada." She tends to only say "mama" when she is crying and wants me. Let it be know for the record that her first word was still "mama!" She can move around the family room but doesn't seem to be in a rush to get anywhere. Probably because we all get everything for her -she is well loved. Still no teeth. Loves sitting and playing with her toys. He favorite toy is her geometric stacker -she likes banging the blocks together. It is hard to believe that before we know it she will be a year old. 

After about 3 weeks we are all finally feeling better! Don't worry as I am writing this blog now we are just about over round two of the dreaded winter bug :(  I am really hoping there is not going to be a round three! Wish us luck, we definitely need it!

Ryder

Since the beginning of the new year I have been looking for a dog to join our family. I followed the Human Society and Rescue Rovers on Facebook to see if a dog sparked my interest. I was always showing Tim this cute little dogs in which his immediate response was always no. Ryder came up on my forum as an urgent need for a foster family. I passed it by not thinking much because he was so big. The next day he came up again so I just showed Tim not thinking to much. Tim asked if he was still available. A little surprised, I said I would call and see. Next thing you knew we were scheduled to pick up Ryder on February 5th.

The picture below is picking up Ryder from the Rescue Rovers Transport team! I think Tim and I were both in complete shock when we picked up Ryder. Ryder came from New Mexico, he was an abandoned dog at a high-kill shelter and scheduled to be put down. He came to Utah with 20 other dogs that day -just that day.  Many of the dogs had been abandoned, or their owners did not want to keep them anymore, and some no one knows. This last week Rescue Rovers helped save over 40 dogs in one day! The amount of dogs they save and find great homes for is unbelievable. They truly are an amazing non-profit organization that we are so happy to be a small part of. The dogs go to foster families first and then when the fosters feel they are ready (1-3 weeks) they put the dogs up for adoption and help to find them a good home. Or as what happened in our case the foster "fails" and ends up adopting them. If you are looking for a dog please go through them -you can tell them what you are looking for breed, qualities and 9 times out of 10 they have a dog that would be perfect or can find one for you :) Do not buy your dog(s) from a breeder -after learning so much about this organization it continually makes me upset/mad when people don't spay/neuter their pets hoping to sell puppies or whatever. Even now I am getting frustrated :/ Rrrrr, moving on...

Ryder is a Doberman/ German Shepard mix that they are guessing is approximately a year old. He is named after Flynn Rider on Tangled but I like the 'y' instead. It was out of Ryder, Sven (like on frozen) or Bagel. Ian later decided bagel might not be the best name because if we said we wanted to eat a bagel someone might think we meant the dog. Sven -might get old to say after some time. So Ryder it is! I was a little nervous about his size and the fact that he could literally take me for a walk being that he weighs 60 lbs.  He is so sweet and never leaves my side, like a giant shadow.

When I sit down in my chair to feed the baby he lays down in his bed next to me. If he needs to take care of business he politely goes and lays down by the front door. We heard him bark for the first time after a week. He let out one loud bark at the gold olympic medalist that looked very big on TV. It is very rare for him to bark. 

He loves the kids, going for a walk or run, playing fetch outside, cleaning up the kids crumbs off the floor, playing with other dogs, and meeting new people that come to the house. I am not sure how he handles all of my Activity Day girls coming over but he thinks it is great!

He also loves to rough house and play with Tim.

He has helped to remind the kids to use their table manners (Aaron lost an entire piece of french toast hanging it over the back of the chair). The kids know they cannot wrestle in the house or Ryder will join them. At the same time he knows when he should just wait patiently and let you be. Ryder finally gave up on Aaron giving him any popcorn once he laid down Aaron tossed him a piece. 

Most of the time you can find him in the middle of all of us laying down on the floor- can I just mention how cute Aaron is in this video. He really wanted to take his Jake and the Neverland Pirates ship for show and tell.

See if you can spot Ryder in these photos.

Just some random photos of Ryder. I love the photo of him watching Ava in the bathtub. He cannot figure out why she likes it so much. He is also not sure when she splashes if he should just deal with it, or if he should try to drink it.

 We officially adopted Ryder the end of February. Ryder adores this little cutie :)

She is very fond of him too. Anytime I set Ava down on the floor she heads straight for the dog. Let me just say that Ava holding onto your hurts -it is more of a pinching than holding. Ryder doesn't mind -but eventually he decides it is time to move away. Usually I move Ava away but I had to get a little video so you could see. No I prefer him not to lick her but did not want to be yelling during the entire movie. In the last few weeks Ryder has decided that it is usually best to move out of her way. Then Ava proceeds to crawl and follow him around the house.

Ava also loves hanging out in Ryder's bed and stealing his toys. She thinks it is hilarious, Ryder just patiently waits for her to move onto a new toy.

Now you have met the newest member of the family :) We absolutely love having him, he has been a wonderful addition to our family! He is a little tired in this picture since he just got back from a 5 mile run with Tim -off leash too.  He is doing so well with training. Such a good boy!

Skiing Lessons

It is that time of year again! Skiing season is in full swing. The boys have been so excited for skiing this year and love that we can all go together as a family. Ava and I sit in the lodge talk to people, read magazines, and just relax. Ava attracts a lot of attention! Everyone that comes in the lodge always comes up and says how cute she is -she usually follows their comments with a beautiful smile :) Aaron is really starting to love skiing -or maybe it is the fact that he always gets a chocolate milk and m&m cookie for a break. Below are a few videos (warning they are a little long) of the kids skiing. 

I can't wait for next year -no more sitting in the lodge for me :) Although I believe both my children are better than me :/

Ice Castles

The kids were begging and we finally made it to Midway, UT to see the ice castles. The boys thought it was the "coolest thing ever." We had been planning to go for weeks so when the time finally arrived they could hardly contain their excitement.

They loved going through the ice maze, ice slide, and finding all kinds of hiding places.

I don't think Aaron ever stopped smiling :) 

We met my family there and Hunter helped carry Ava. As you can see Ava did not have an opinion about the ice castles. Just enjoyed chilling in her carrier.

The kids are a little surprised we did not see Elsa. You do not know who Elsa is? Are you living in a cave? Elsa is from the Disney movie Frozen, and apparently Aaron wants to be Elsa when he grows up ;) Afterwards we headed for dinner at JCW's -the boys love the Oreo shake. Thanks for coming down and exploring the castles with us. We all had a great time.