Baby Must Haves!

Just yesterday as Addy was drinking out of her sippy cup, our piano teacher (a grandma) told me how lucky I was to have a sippy cup. She told me how they best sippy in her day was a Tupperware cup with lid. We all know those do not work for babies! That got me thinking about all the great products available to us. Here are some of my "favorite baby things" this time around.


A bumbo seat! I loved this thing. I saw it on Heidi Swapp's blog when Karissa was two. I just thought to myself, too bad they didn't have those when I had babies. Then, surprise Addy! That was the first item on my list. I loved this thing, she looked so cute in it.


Adorable pacifiers. When I was pregnant I read a study that said babies who had a pacifier had a lower risk of SIDS. That hooked me right away. While my other children never took a pacifier, Addy did. They have SO many cute ones now. New designs and colors pop up every month. Now that Addy is one I have to tell myself no more! Lucky you if you still get to browse the pacifier isle at Target!


Flower clips and bows. So cute! I loved it when I could force Addy to wear them. The flowers are just adorable and I wish someone would have thought of this 9 years ago when I had my first girl. Too bad the bow/flower phase didn't last for long. Our little bald Addy will have nothing to do with anything being on her head.


Baby Cheetos...aka Gerber Crunchies. Addy loves these things and still does the happy dance when we pull them out. All the texture of Cheetos puffs and they say packed with vitamins (not totally sold on that). All the texture babies love without the orange mess and guilt!

Here are just a few of the things "new to me" this baby. Enjoying it all since she is my last baby. Hope some of you new Mom's and Mom's to be enjoy all the great stuff out there!

Dancing Queen

Do your kids do this?

I know I just need to chalk it up to creativity, but sometimes it creeps me out when I find pictures like this on my camera....


Upon further investigation, I realized it is just Super Why. =) For some reason Karissa can't get enough snapshots of TV shows. Please tell me your children are somewhat paparazzi-ish too.

Back to Blogging!!

I have missed you all! I took a little blogging break so I could enjoy the summer with the kids. And, every other extra spare second was filled with preschool! But, now that school has started I feel like I can breathe again and come back to blogging. Here is a little catch up on what we did over our blogging break.



1. Addy turned ONE! I can hardly believe it. She is such a sweet baby. Now that she is one and mobile...she is into everything! We love her so much and can't imagine life without her.



2. Camping. Truth be told, camping is not one of my favorite things, but it is much more fun when filled with great friends . We enjoyed our yearly camping trip with our high school friends and are so glad we are still so close. Love you guys! We also headed up to Payson Lakes with some of our friends from our Trowbridge Home. After all my camping complaining, the Stanworth's forced me to sleep in their trailer.=) Flushing toilets and soap and water put a smile on my face.


3. Park City with my family at a condo at the Lodge at the Mountain Village. A yearly highlight...even if we didn't have enough beds this year! We had a great time...and LOVED the Alpine Coaster.


4. School starting! The kids are growing up so fast, I can hardly believe it! Wow. The kids and Mom were way excited for school to start and they are loving it and doing great!


5. Finishing a room in our basement...so glad it is done! We hired almost everything out, but Richard and I did the painting ourselves. It was, quite the bonding experience. =) So thankful for a wonderful husband who supports me in all I do. Love ya.

So, I am back...and I can't wait to catch up on you too.

Channeling My Inner Domestic Diva

Richard has been hinting that he would love me to make homemade bread for him for the past 11 years. I have just pretended not to hear him, because to be totally honest, there are a lot more things I want to do with two hours of my life than make homemade bread! But, I finally gave in when my sister's neighbor gave me a sourdough starter. I felt so domestic. I was a little proud of my hard work when Kaela told me our house smelled like Great Harvest. Amanda's homemade raspberry jam made it taste even better (hugs Amanda!). It still was A LOT of work and not something I am planning on doing on a regular basis (I had to put that out there so Richard didn't get his hopes up). I think it will be a little sooner than another eleven years, every now and again for a treat. Here's to learning something new!

Family Photos

Here are a few of our family photos my super talented friend Allison took. Sam and Karissa did not want to cooperate...family photos with six people is CRAZY. I love the ones of my kids, especially on the bridge and water. Can't decide on a favorite...

A little cheesy, but it's true...

To be honest I have felt a little ripped off that both my sisters and Mom have worked full time while I have been at home for the past 10 years. My Mom and sibs are my best friends (can't leave out my favorite brother, whom I talk to at least every other day). I have been a little jealous of all of you who get to hang out and make huge batches of cookies to freeze with your loved ones on a regular basis.

So, whenever one of them gets the day off we usually spend it together. I got to spend the whole day on Friday with my little sister Ashley. We hit the gym, decided to visit our Mom (who was taking a class at the U) for lunch, hit the Gateway so the kids could run around, visited Richard at work and ended the evening with a family dinner (missed you Casey, but looking forward to SYTYCD this week). Anyway, glad to have days like this...they are FUN (especially in the summer when there are no schedules ruling us!).


And, I have to say I have some wonderful friends whom I get to hang out with on a regular basis, don't think I could function without my weekly lunch date with Candace, and other random events that come up each week. Just feeling a little grateful for all the moments I get to spend with my loved ones here and there. Just so you know the above picture of my fam was from our SF trip together last year when I was 7 months pregnant, no I am not pregnant now, just last year. =)