Phone photo overload

Quinn recently got an app on my phone that times when she brushes teeth with princesses and she gets stickers, she loves it. Lately, she has asked me if it was time to brush her teeth because she is so excited about the app and "sticker" she will get. Today when brushing her teeth she got Leo's toothbrush and gave it to him. He started walking around brushing his teeth and I realized we had a picture of Quinn in the same outfit brushing her teeth when they were almost the same age! I had to snap a picture. Then after looking at the picture I realized we need to get Leo a haircut. 

          Quinn at about 15 months                                           Leo at 14 months 

While I was putting my pictures on my computer I decided I would add some other photos that we have taken recently. I love watching Dave and Leo interact and I'm glad Leo has such a fun and loving dad to look up to. They always have so much fun together and of course daddy is always tossing him in the air like he still does with Quinn. 

  

The other day the kids and I met some friends for breakfast at a local donut shop. Leo LOVES donuts. When he hears the word donut he yells (he pretty much is using cave man grunts still but he understands a lot!) and then freaks out if he doesn't get one. While I was trying to pay he kept staring at the window and would not walk away from the window until I had the donut in hand. 

 

And who doesn't love selfless with Q?! She has the best smile! Her vocabulary always amazes me. Today her and Leo were playing and he fell off the chair (more like she shoved him off the chair….) and then she caught him. She was so proud of herself and said "I saved Weo, I'm a hero!" Then when we were outside I told her she had to stay by the car and not go in the street because it was dangerous. She said "mommy, if I go in the street I could get hurt and it would be terrible." She has the best personality and always keeps me on my toes. 

This is what happens when I try to load and unload the dishwasher. Maybe this is why I don't do it very often, it is so unproductive. I have no clue why he is so obsessed with the dishwasher but he loves it. 

Our babysitter ,Anna sent me this picture the other day when the kids were playing outside with sidewalk chalk. I think it is the sweetest picture of them. It rained yesterday and Q was so upset because her "pictures were all gone!" They made a hopscotch board and every time we went outside she jumped all around on it and counted the numbers. I think we will be spending a lot of time outside this spring with the chalk. Tonight before bed she said "mom, I just love springtime." 

Over the weekend we took Quinn to the movie on a mommy, daddy, Quinn date to see Cinderella. It was the sweetest. She absolutely loved it and throughout the movie was asking questions like "is that the daddy or the prince?", "are they going to the ball?", then she yelled "it fits, it fits!" after Cinderella put the shoe on. I was glad when the movie was over the people next to us commented on how sweet she was. I was relieved because I was afraid it would make them mad. It was a great evening that I will remember for a long time. I love getting to spend time with her and do things together that she likes. 

Phone pictures are good, life is good. 

Disney Trip Part 1

We went to Disneyland in early February for a joint birthday trip for Leo and Quinn. Papaw Richard came with us and it was a little retirement celebration trip for him too. We left on Saturday morning and drove straight through, only stopped 2 times! Our kids are really great in the car and we are very lucky for that. Quinn was so excited to go and it was all she talked about for weeks leading up to the trip. 

This time we stayed in a condo complex right across the street from the parks and it was perfect. I am sure we will make one more trip to Disney before we leave Utah and we will stay at the same Condo, it was so nice. 

 

We got in late Saturday and just unpacked the car and went to sleep. Then on Sunday we went to breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen. It was one of the highlights of the trip for me. The kids absolutely loved it, even Leo! He got so excited when the characters walked by and he kept trying to grab their noses. They all thought he was cute (of course!) so I think that helped increase the amount of characters and the time they visited our table, they just loved him. Quinn had a blast too. Her favorite part was when everybody walked around signing and we all got to wave our napkins in the air. The food was pretty good also and it worked out great because Quinn wasn't 3 just yet so she was still free! This will be something we do every trip to Disney from now on, it was the perfect start to the vacation. 

 

 

 

 

After breakfast we headed for the Pacific Highway and drove up the coast. We didn't have a set destination and just drove for a little bit enjoying the scenery. It was funny because when we did finally stop, it was the same beach that we went to our last trip to California! The weather was beautiful and we enjoyed relaxing on the beach and playing in the sand. Our condo had chars, beach towels and beach toys which made the trip more enjoyable for everybody.  

 

 

  

 

 

We finished the day by having dinner with my college friend Layla and her man, Mark at a really cute and good restaurant near the beach. Both of my kids were kind of done at that point and they were a little crazy at dinner, I am going to blame this for the reason we did not get a picture! The dinner was yummy and the company was great! We enjoyed catching up on our lives and a delicious pitcher of Sangria (which is hard to find in Utah!). I really wish she lived closer because I miss her so much! 

One thing that is on my 30 before 30 list was to unplug for a week. I decided to do this over our vacation and I think it is going to be a new tradition for all of our family vacations. I still had my phone and took it with me to the park in case we separated for rides and such and could still contact each other. However, for the most of the trip my phone was turned off or on airplane mode (so I could still take pictures without having to take my big camera). It was really eye opening to me how much I am used to being on my phone, especially in the car. The first part of the trip I felt myself wanting to reach for my phone all the time and then over time it became something I didn't really need or want. By the end of the trip I realized how nice it was to not have my phone and feel that I needed to check my email or text messages or see what was going on with social media. It was very eye opening for me and has changed my phone usage some at home also. I have started leaving my phone upstairs or in the kitchen when we are playing. It isn't something that I need to have on me all the time but I think in this culture of having to be connected all the time we think it is. One thing I noticed when not having my phone at the park was how much people are on their phones! While waiting in line for rides or sitting down to eat, parents were staring at their phones and not interacting with their families/kids. This is something I need to continue to work on, putting away the phone or computer and just being present. I do think I will "unplug" for all vacations from here on out, you should try it and see how relaxing a vacation can really be! 

Beach time is good, life is good! 

Sunday bowling fun

Something we have started trying to do is go bowling on Sundays. Quinn loves bowling (and Leo is also really starting to like it too) and the base bowling alley here is really nice and inexpensive. It makes for a fun Sunday afternoon and I love that we are starting to do things as a family that we can continue to do as the kids get older. Dave and I like to make bets for our games against each other, the loser usually gets dish duty for the day. 

Quinn loves putting on the bowling shoes and carrying her own ball to the little dinosaur ramp. She even gets creative with the way she pushes the ball, sometimes she will run and push it, other times she will walk slowly and then do a spin and push the ball while she stands backwards. She is a very dramatic and creative little gal. 

Leo loves pushing the ball down the ramp also, so much so that we have started to have to pay for him to play his own game. He will walk up to the ramp by himself, push the ball, then walk around the ramp to watch the ball and clap his hands. Both kids love the french fries they get to snack on during the game and we all have a fun afternoon together. 

 

  

 

 

While finding the photos for the bowling post, I found these gems on Dave's phone. 

Who doesn't love cowgirl boots, underwear and crazy hair?! 

One evening, she brought down her blanket and set up a picnic of carrots for her friends. She said the picnic was for Porter, Aubree, Luke, Ashlee and Quinn. It made me so sad! She misses the Binghams as much as I do! 

These two are my favorite things in the world and I love how much they are starting to play with each other and keep each other entertained. It allows me some time to get things done or just sit! 

Also, I can't believe how long this little gals hair is getting! 

Bowling is good, life is good 

FaceTime is the best

This is a blog I started a few months ago and never finished. It is going to be short but I wanted to make sure it made the book. It is really hard being away from family but technology helps a bunch. We call Grandma and papaw pretty much every day, even if it is just for a quick "hello." Other times Quinn will take the phone and go and "play" with grandma. This particular day she was playing in the kitchen when we were talking and she decided grandma and papaw needed to eat. My parents are great sports and will sit on the other end while she carries them around and "plays" with them. She was making them food and feeding them. I love how she set the phone up against her kitchen so she could see them while she was cooking for them. It is fun to see her interacting with grandma and papaw even though they are "far far away" in Ohio as Quinn would say. 

 

FaceTime is good, life is good 

Treehouse museum

We are very lucky and have so much fun activities for kids to do here in Utah and most of it is pretty cheap. The kids made a great decision and used some of their Christmas money from Great Grandma to buy passes to the Treehouse Museum, they are really smart! It is a fun place and right now they have a cute Curious George exhibit that both kids loved. We met some friends there and had a great time playing and exploring. Quinn gets excited when I tell her we are going there and her two favorite things are the kitchen/tea party area and the baby nursery. She will pretend to feed all the babies and change their diapers, she has always been very mothering to babies and baby dolls, it is sweet. 

   

Now that Leo is on the move and starting to find things he likes I think we might have to split our time because he currently loves the fire truck and the train tables. He also likes that there is a lot of room for him to walk around and I spend most of the time chasing him back to wherever Quinn is playing. 

We had a great time visiting with friends and playing at the museum and are happy we can go as much as we want this year, thanks Grandma! 

 

 

Both kids recently had their 1-year and 3-year checkups. They did great and Quinn was so funny. She was so concerned she was sick and that is why we were at the doctor, she was fake coughing and everything. She did a great job and Doc Mcstuffins helps to make the doctor a fun trip. She has gotten very tall and is in the 76 percentile for height and weight, her head is still…. large. 

Leo also did great and is now in the 26 percentile for weight and 17 percentile for height. He had to get a few shots this time but was a trooper and only cried for a few minutes. The tech gave him a sucker which I let him have for a minute so he stopped crying from the shots but then quickly took it so he wouldn't choke, which then caused more crying. We were able to stop and see daddy at work and I had to get a picture of my boys together since Leo was wearing his major cutie shirt that day! 

check ups are good, life is good 

First Dentist Appointments

Quinn and Leo had their first dentist appointments today. Quinn kept talking about going to the dentist all morning and was having mixed feelings about it. Sometimes she acted like she was excited and others she asked about the dentist with a little fear in her voice. She was a very brave girl and once we walked inside she was all about it since the office was decked out to look like a spaceship. This helps since one of her favorite shows right now is Miles from Tomorrowland, she was convinced this is also where Miles goes to the dentist. Her and Leo gravitated to the kid play room which had iPads on the walls and a little TV and they were in heaven. 

When we went back they did x-rays and she sat in the chair like such a big girl. It made me a little sad because she looked so grown up! She did great in the chair because they had a TV in the ceiling and she watched Tinkerbell while they cleaned her teeth. No surprise that she picked grape (purple) for her flavor and a princess toothbrush. Leo was a maniac the entire appointment and I got to chase him around the office. 

  

I was so proud of how well she did. She just sat there and did what they said. When the dentist came he said she was doing a great job brushing and we had no cavities! I was thrilled because I thought for sure she was going to have some but I was so glad that she didn't. Since we were there with Leo the dentist went ahead and did his first check up. Basically he just checked his teeth to see how many he had and then brushed them. Leo got a Mickey tooth brush and a toy duck. Everybody was happy when we left and we celebrated with ice cream! 

 

 

Showing off her pretty smile! 

No cavities are good, life is good 

Leo is ONE!!!

This is a few months late and I never got around to taking his 12-month sticker picture (second child problems) but LEO IS ONE!! This has really been the fastest year of my life. I feel like it was yesterday that we were heading into the hospital to have him. He is an amazing little guy and I feel so lucky he is in our family. 

He really has the sweetest smile and I love when Quinn and I go in to get him in the morning he is standing in his crib with that big sweet smile. When we go to get him Quinn will say "Good Morning Bugaboo!" and it melts my heart every time. 

Lately he is into books and loves Llama Llama Nighty Night. When we read the book, he laughs and points to the pictures. His current favorite thing to say is "bu" and he uses it for pretty much everything. He also says, "mama, more, milk, beep beep (when he is playing with cars and it's my favorite) and "bu" for pretty much everything else. The only (kind of) sign he will use is he puts his hand out and does this grabbing motion when he wants something, I take that as a home sign for "want". 

He is not a big fan of bath time but lately I have been putting him in a laundry basket in the bath tub so his toys don't float away and that seems to help. We used to have him in a little bath chair and he loved it and every since we took that away he doesn't like baths. I think the laundry basket helps him feel secure maybe like his bath chair did. 

Leo loves Charlie like I have mentioned hundreds of times but it is still true. He lays on him, pets him and lately pretends to brush his hair. He will stand by Charlie and say "ba" and I don't know if this is just random noise making or if he is imitating our yelling "bad" at Charlie. 

The boy has a temper that is for sure! If he doesn't want something or you make him mad he has this awful scream and then he will throw whatever he can find or currently has. He doesn't like his hands being cleaned and screams like you are hurting him when you try to clean them. He eats like a cow! I don't think I am ready for my grocery bill to rise while feeding a boy, I mean the other day he hate 4.5 french toast sticks for breakfast and wanted more! Basically I could go on and on about this sweet little boy but he is pretty much amazing and I can't wait for his personality to keep coming out. 

For his birthday my mom, sister and nephews flew in and we had a mini little birthday party. Leo was sick on his birthday so he wasn't really into anything. I got a cake and some Mickey Mouse decorations so he didn't look back and feel like he got completely ripped off.  Leo was very lucky and got lots of presents from family and friends and the big kids loved playing with them while he wasn't feel well! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He was not interested in blowing out his candles or eating his cake on his actual birthday. Poor little guy was not feeling good at all! 

 

 

Since all the cousins were together we wanted to do some pictures. Now getting 4 children to cooperate for pictures is a bit crazy. We were able to get some super cute ones of the little boys and to get some fun cake smash pictures. Leo was eating a graham cracker when it was his turn for pictures and refused to put it down. We were able to get some cute ones when he was finished eating that silly cracker! 

  

 

They were not real sure about the cake smash but ended up enjoying themselves and making a huge mess! I am glad we were able to get these pictures of them together at this special time. 

 

 

 

 

Birthdays are good, life is good.