Balderson

Random pictures from my camera

2012-01-26T12:48:00.001-08:00

We haven't been up to a whole lot the last few weeks, just relaxing and and getting things ready for baby girl. Can't believe it is less than 7 weeks until she arrives. Makes me nervous and excited all at the same time. I have been majorly nesting the past little while. Maybe one day I will get round to posting some of the projects I have been working on. We'll see.

Speaking of baby, she still has no name. A point that is stressing me out to no end. So any suggestions are welcome. Also, my "low lying placenta" is not really moving out the way like it is supposed to, so my Doc says they will let me try to get her out naturally, but to be prepared that they may have to rush me off and cut me open. Trying so hard not to think about that possibility. But other than that she is growing nicely....as am I (well not nicely, rather largely but who is complaining).

Anyway, I was just looking through my camera and thought I would post some random pics from our last few weeks.

The girls have been crafting lots lately...maybe all my nesting is rubbing off on them? I don't know but I love that they love to create things.

In our matching aprons we got from Santa

We moved the girls into the same room, and the same bed...more on that later. So far so good. It is so funny seeing the crazy positions they get themselves into.

Little Nora has been doing quite a bit of this. No, not looking homeless. Tantruming. It is awesome.

My cute little ballerina

Really, I couldn't ask for Sophie to be a better big sister. Often she is the only one who can calm Nora down.

Christmas Day in Pictures

2012-01-06T13:21:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve

2012-01-04T10:35:00.000-08:00

Christmas came and went in a hurry this year.

I am still in mourning it is all over.

Anywho, this year since the girls are getting older, we really wanted to do a service project with them, and try and focus a little less on getting and more on giving. Jimmy got in touch with some families he converted from the Marshal Islands while on his mission, who now live in Utah and we decided to do a toy drive for their community.

Can I just say, people are so generous.....we ended up with sooooo many books and toys for all age groups. It ended up being quite the project to gather all of the things and wrap them. Thank you to everyone we donated things! The girls were eager to go through their toys as well and choose things they no longer play with to wrap up.

Then on Christmas Eve we took the presents to a little gathering the Marshalese were having, and when I say little I don't mean little at all. It was a full on part-ay and was so fun to be a part of.

The most adorable kids ever
See, it got a little currrazzzy

The kids loved their toys and would not let them out of their sight.
I'm so glad we were able to do something to help other people and to see the happiness it brings them. It really made Christmas a lot more special.

That evening, we had all my family over for dinner and our annual shenanigans.

These three weren't bouncing off the walls at all.....

Right.

Per everyone's request I put together a "spread" of food...quite literally the most food I have ever consumed in one sitting.
Then onto the nativity. This one relinquished her role as Mary to Em, and instead took the lead as an angel. The fanciest angel I have ever seen.

And so of course, little miss Nora followed suit and was also an angel.
We got a little carried away with costumes this year.

You can't tell what Jimmy and I are? Let me help you out.

Jimmy is Joseph and I am a wise man.

Yes we are embaressed.

The three wise men each went with their own interpretation of the role. Sam, clearly the most traditional, Becky a gold digger (don't know how that makes her wise), and I don't know how I thought being a genie was wise?

The acting was superb

Cute angel Sophie, who got into the red lipstick for the 10,000th time that day

And of course the angels needed a dance off once the acting was done

Ah, good times. After everyone had left the girls opened their Christmas jammies (clearly, Nora also got into the lipstick) and put out milk and cookies for Santa, grabbed their stockings and were in bed and asleep in record time

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

2011-12-20T13:11:00.000-08:00

Okay, it has been looking like Christmas for a month around these parts, but I thought I would document it

I love that the kids have their own tree to decorate in the family room. This year we also added "presents to Jesus" on that tree which I think we will keep as a tradition

And our pretty tree in the formal room, which we just recently had wallpapered

I am in love

(Please pay no mind to the crooked and unfinshed picture wall...it's on my list)

Merry Christmas!

Tiny Dancer

2011-12-19T14:21:00.000-08:00

On Friday night Sophie had her first dance recital
She could not have been more excited
I don't know if she was more excited to dance on stage or get all dressed up in her sparkly costume and get to wear lipstick

Whichever it was she sure embraced the role

She did awesome in her performance

(That's her on the far left doing a curtsey)

So proud of her

Nora the ragamuffin was on hand to support and kept telling me next year she wanted to be a dancer too

Love her

Thanksgiving in San Fran

2011-12-17T15:12:00.001-08:00

Over thanksgiving we headed to the Bay Area. We haven't been back to visit since we moved away two years ago, and so thought it would be the perfect time to spend time with Jimmy's sisters and their families and catch up with old friends.

The girls loved seeing their California cousins.

On Thanksgiving we had a delicious meal at Cathy's in Danville.

The next day we went to Half Moon Bay with the Kellers to a christmas tree farm.

It was beautiful and had so many fun activities for the kids.

After we stopped by a darling beach and let the kiddos play in the rock pools and along the shoreline.

I forgot how pretty northern California is.

While out visiting friends, we of course had to stop by our old apartment...all 800 square feet of it. Can't believe we lived there for 2 years. Good times.

Such a fun trip that went by way too fast!

Canadian Thanksgiving

2011-12-17T14:35:00.001-08:00

The end of October two of Jimmy's siblings and their families headed down from Canada over their canadian thanksgiving break. It was so much fun to spend time with Danny & Tammy and Patti & Jimmy and their cute kiddos. Our house was a mad house for a week...the girls were in heaven to have sleepovers with their canadian cousins every night.

We shopped, hit up Cornbelly's, temple square and ate lots of yummy food.

All of the kids loved cornbelly's

Sophie sought out the "pumpkin princess" again (she remembered her from last year)

Gracie is such a good "big cousin"

Inside the visitors center with all the kids

I wish I had taken more pics of the cousins together

Come back and visit again soon!

The rest of the summer

2011-12-13T14:26:00.000-08:00

Yes, still trying to get caught up after my long hiatus in the summer.
Some of the things we were up to while not vacationing are

Playing in the garden lots

Playing with friends lots

And with each other

Walks up the canyon

Lunching with sisters

Forced photo ops

Summer nights spent at the driving range

Cookouts in the canyon

Swimming at Crestwood pool...we lived at this place

Fencing off the back part of our yard and letting our neighbor graze his sheep there instead to cut down on the 4+ hours a week lawn maintenance work

Planting our first garden

And watching it grow and grow...so proud of ourselves

Playing in summer rainfalls

Throwing breakfast parties before the Draper parade in July

Hogle Zoo

Nora's first professional haircut...which she and I hated. We will not be back Cookie Cutters

Bike rides on my sweet bike and trailer

Sophie's daily swimming lessons

Okay, I feel much better about life now I have that done...whew.

Dear Santa...

2011-12-01T13:22:00.000-08:00

I feel that I have been a pretty good girl this year and so per your request, here is a little compilation of my hearts desires

1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.

(Oh, and feel free to ask if you need more food for thought...plenty more where this came from)

School Time

2011-11-11T13:07:00.000-08:00

This August Sophie started preschool. We decided, after much deliberation (I know, I know it is such an earth shattering decision)to send her to a small preschool in the neighborhood round the corner and we couldn't be happier. The class is small and they focus on learning through crafts and hands on activities which is right up Sophie's ally. She comes home everyday with the cutest crafts and loves going.

Running into school....where did my little girl go? I still get a little emotional sometimes dropping her off.

Norie will get to go next year too and is pretty excited.

This week has been food week at school. She came home the other day with this on after having made rolls in class and today went on a tour of McDonalds. Rough life.

Also in August, miss Sophie started dance class at a studio with one of her good friends. She did dance last year at her friends house with a group of cute girls from the ward which was so fun but she was ready to go to a studio. She does ballet, jazz and tumbling and asks everyday if it is Thursday yet.

And this little munchkin is in tumbling class at the Little Gym. It is a parent child class so I get to go with her and it is so fun to do something each week one on one with her. I swear that one is a little monkey so swinging and climbing and walking on beams is her exact cup of tea. I love watching both the girls start to get involved and figure out what they like doing.

Baby #3

2011-11-06T19:53:00.000-08:00

Poor baby #3. I feel like she barely gets a mention ever. I guess thats what happens when you are the third child. Oh, yes and that's right it's another girl!

Soph and Nora are ecstatic and determined her name shall be Coco (don't worry, it won't be).

I am coming out of my state of shock. I was positive it was a boy.

And Jimmy is only showing minor signs of a breakdown at the thought of all the estrogen, years of hormonal teenage girls and dance recitals he will have to sit through. What a champ.

Here is my only belly shot taken so far this pregnancy, today at almost 22 weeks.

Let's pretend I don't look like I am about to kill somebody shall we?

Anyway, the baby is healthy and growing right on track. We are so excited for our newest little nugget to arrive in March!

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T15:20:00.000-07:00

The halloween celebrations have lasted for a week around these parts.

The girls got to dress up for dance class, tumbling, preschool, trunk or treat, Jimmy's work trick or treating and the "official" trick or treating tonight. We will all need to go on a sugar detox starting tomorrow.

Sophie's preschool class did a halloween show. It was pretty cute.

(Our little Rapunzel is on the right)

Rapunzel

And Jesse the yodeling cowgirl

Happy halloween!

Sunday Morning Photoshoot

2011-10-20T18:34:00.001-07:00

4 Years Old

2011-09-27T11:13:00.000-07:00

Sophie Jean

It seems hard to believe it was 4 years ago I held you in my arms for the very first time.

You have grown up so much since then, and I am so proud of the little girl you are choosing to be.

You are the exact definition of everything I thought having a girl would be. You always want your nails painted, and hair done pretty, are constantly sneaking into my makeup to get your face all done up, and are the best little shopping partner.

Your daddy is your favorite person in the world. You two are such a cute little pair.

Nora is your little partner in crime. You two are joined at the hip and you look after her so well, always making sure she is included when you are playing with your friends.

You love to cuddle and give kisses and tell you me you love me multiple times a day.

This summer you learned to ride a bike with no training wheels, learned all the swimming strokes and how to pump your legs on the swing.

You have such a sweet, simple faith.

I love you so much and am so glad you are ours.

Newport Beach

2011-09-24T10:08:00.000-07:00

The middle of August we went with my family on a little vacay to Newport Beach. We stayed in the most adorable beach house on the peninsula which was so accessible to everything and pretty much spent the week relaxing. I think Newport might be one of my all time favorite holiday spots.

Anyway, whilst there we celebrated Jimmy's 28th (old man) and Sophie's 4th birthday.

The day after Sophie's birthday we took the girls to disneyland for the day. It was so so much fun. We pretty much just stayed in the princess area the whole day and so got to meet a lot of the girl's heroes. Literally Sophie was star struck because she genuinely thought the were the real deal.

The girl's highlight was going to a royal ball with Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty where they learned a dance and then got to dance with the princesses. Doesn't get much better than that for little girls I don't think.

Poor Nora passed out half was through the day, but we definitely will be going back soon.

The rest of the time in Newport we passed our days hanging out with the fam, bike riding up and down the boardwalk, eating our daily dose of donuts, playing cards and relaxing.

And of course we spent plenty of time at the beach. The waves were huge but the girls had no fear and were in and out the whole time. I loved having Jimmy, my mum and sisters around to watch the girls since I was in the throughs of morning sickness so it was a win win for everyone.

Seriously such a fun holiday.
Newport we will be back.

I'm baaaaack

2011-09-20T12:22:00.000-07:00

I'm back to blogging after 3 months and have so much to catch up on. We have had quite the busy summer with lots of fun vacations, playing and soaking up the sun. I am a little overwhelmed with where to begin to catch up, for our memories sake, so here's a quick recap.

In June we went to Lake Powell, with the Mangum's and it was soooooo fun, but I forgot my camera so bummer, no pictures. But we went and enjoyed it.

Also in June we found out we were expecting another baby, which we are very excited about, although that is the main reason I have been MIA from the blogosphere, because the little baby is kicking my be-hind. But I am starting to feel like a normal person again. The throwing up has almost stopped, and I can deal with nausea and tiredness to an extent. Soooo yes, I am just trying to get back on top of everything I have neglected the past 15 weeks. Good times.

Anyway, in July we went up to Canada for our annual trip and had so much fun as always.

The girls loved being with their cousins and swimming in grandpa's pool

Sophie and Westy resting during an intense round of water games provided by Uncle Daresy

The hot tub was a hit with the kids too...although the water looked a very distinct shade of yellow after they were done

Walk around the fish pond and wading through to catch some little fishies

Sophers learned to ride a big girl bike without training wheels while we were there. She was so proud of herself. (p.s. strider bikes are the best thing out there for teaching balance to kids. Sophie pretty much just got on the bike and was off)

Jumping on grandma and grandpa's trampoline

Horse rides on Uncle Danny's horses

Sophie loved it and was very reluctant to come off. Nora not so much.

Meeting brand new cousin baby Breaker. The cutest little baby. Nora wouldn't leave him alone...she is going to be a very attentive big sister.

Jimmy and I snuck away for an overnight date to celebrate my birthday to Waterton (the Canadian side of Glacier National Park). We stayed in the cutest cabin and had so much fun biking around the town and having some alone time.

Outside the Prince of Wales Hotel. Everything is so pretty up there it is ridiculous.

Of course Jimmy had to relive his childhood and skip some rocks.

At Cameron Falls.

And while we were up in Canada Patti (Jimmy's sister) was nice enough to take some family pictures for us, even though she had had a baby like the week before. She is so talented and we couldn't be happier with how they turned out.

landscaping

2011-07-09T19:48:00.001-07:00

About a month ago we had phase one of our landscaping done, and we are so happy with how it turned out. We went from this:

To this:

And this:

This:

To this:

A little side shot

We also had a little uplighting done on the house so in the dark it looks awesome sauce

We also had a large garden cut out where we have planted almost every vegetable and fruit imaginable. It has definitely been some work getting that going but so exciting to see things starting to grow.
The girls loved playing in the piles of dirt that were around while the work was being done

And while things were happening outside, I decided to paint some white stripes on the wall in our laundry room. Apparently I need to center the pelmet box above the window, don't mind that.

It is so exciting seeing things come together with our house, although we still have a lot more we would like to do!

Recipe for a perfect day....

2011-06-21T14:41:00.000-07:00

Start the day off with a deep bubble bath

Dress in your fanciest princess attire

Head to the Princess Festival at Thanksgiving Point with friends....

where you watch your favorite princesses dancing at the ball

And then do a little dancing yourself

Meet some more princesses

(and their slightly scary looking princes)

Throw in some face painting, hair styling and manicures and you have yourself a pretty perfect day

Wow, it's been a while.....

2011-06-15T18:41:00.000-07:00

Goodness, almost a month. That's got to be my longest stretch of not blogging. I feel like there is just too much to catch up on. So much happens so quickly nowadays that I want to document and I haven't. Here are some of the highlights of what we have been up to:

We have been doing endless summer activities, since Utah's spring decided to finally arrive. Warm weather just gives so many more options of things to do. We have been at the park lots, at the zoo, the farm, on bike rides, bbq's with friends and family, swimming and just playing outside. Lots and lots of playing outside.

We had our landscaping done...well phase one anyway. One day I will get round to posting pictures. It looks pretty awesome sauce, if I say so myself.

Now that some landscaping is done, which I feel is Jimmy's domain, I have been working with the amazing Caitlin Creer to get the interiors somewhat up to par. Pretty exciting stuff.

Sophie is loving playing with all of her cute little friends. I swear she has a playdate at least every other day. It's at times like this I love not living in a neighborhood, so I can somewhat control the amount of friend playtime instead of the door knocking all day long. Call me a controlling mother, whatever.

Nora is potty trained! She pretty much trained herself a few months ago but I wasn't ready to deal with it so I kept her in diapers until the other week when I bit the bullet, and she has been awesome.

However, she is a handful and a half. I thought I had the whole parenting thing down with Sophie, but Nora is a whole different beast. She is the epitome of independent. She has to do everything herself, like everything, and if for some reason she doesn't get to, holy tantrums. That's all I will say about that right now. (I do love her though)

Jimmy has been busy working and in the garden. Speaking of gardens, we have planted ours with every vegetable imaginable. We are excited to see if anything actually grows.

Along those lines, we cancelled our TV for the summer in an effort to stop ourselves from watching too much...that's how addicted we were. However, our plan has failed as we have started Netflix, and instead of watching one show at night while we wind down, we are now watching an entire movie every night. Awesome.

I have been spending a lot of time with my good friend Jillian (aka Jillian Michael's) doing her 30 days shred and Yoga Meltdown. The lady is intense and I love it. Also, primary has been taking a lot of my time. With 140 kids in primary and 35 in nursery, there is a lot to do, but it is fun.

Okay, thats all I can think of right now. We are so excited for summer. We have lots of fun things planned, starting with our trip to Lake Powell on Friday. Yay for summer!

Canada

2011-05-19T13:45:00.000-07:00

The beginning of May, Jimmy's grandpa Ken passed away at the age of 93. I am so glad that the girls and I have gotten the chance to know him a little in the last few years. We were all able to head up to Canada for the funeral and to spend time with family up there.

All Jimmy's siblings and their kids who could make it

Sophie at the grave of Jimmy's triplet sisters

Some of the cousins....there were quite a few not there. The girls love having so many fun cousins to play with

We were only up for a few days but managed to do a lot of things. Soph's highlight was riding on her cousins horse "Beau"...she pretty much thought she was a princess.

2 years

2011-05-09T13:42:00.000-07:00

Our baby Nora turned 2 last week, so I guess she is officially no longer a baby.

We had a little party for her a few days before her birthday with my family.

Anxiously waiting for people to arrive

The birthday girl is allowed to have a tantrum or two right?

Ah, all better, and ready for the cake.

That brown blob is supposed to be a hedgehog...the cake my family always had growing up. Problem is my mum as not very specific on how to make it so I kind of winged it. My sister Becky wrote all about the process here

Cute little Norie was happy with it, and it tasted delish

We were up in Canada for Nora's actual birthday (the 5th), which she shares with Grandma Lorraine so she got another celebration, this time with lots of little helpers to blow out the candles.

We are so happy Nora came to join our family 2 years ago, even if she was 2 weeks late and put me through 36 hours of labor.
I forgave her instantly.

She is such a happy, funny, spunky little girl who brings us so much joy
We love her.

Newport

2011-05-02T21:07:00.001-07:00

Jimmy and I just got back from a delightful long weekend in Newport Beach with Jimmy's "top dog" work trip. We stayed at the fabulous Pelican Bay Resort which was so beautiful.

Jimmy got in a little golf while I enjoyed a morning at the spa

We enjoyed soaking up some sun at the pool

And a little biking down the Newport board walk

And even though we were on holiday you had better believe I was up at 2am to catch all the coverage of the big wedding. I could not get over how beautiful Kate/Catherine looked and am in love with both of her dresses.

(but what the heck is Camilla wearing?)
She is a classy lady thats for sure

Me and a few of the other girls also enjoyed stalking Avery from Grey's Anatomy, who was staying at our resort. However, he did follow us to eat at the Crab Cooker, so maybe he was the one stalking us?

Easter

2011-04-27T15:09:00.000-07:00

I made sure we celebrated easter properly this year, given that we skipped over St. Patricks day and Soph felt a little short changed when all her friends were telling her what the leprachauns had done to their house and they did zilch to ours. I'm not really a fan of the irish seems how they bombed Manchester while I lived there...thanks for that. (p.s. if you have irish ancestors I am sure they were awesome.)

I digress. So Easter this year, our celebrations lasted all month long.

We started off with a little egg dying.

Sophie got right into it.

Nora meanwhile was much more interested in eating them.

(excuse that she looks homeless...there is really no explanation for that)

Hard at work

Then Aunt Em came over for a little easter sugar cookie making (and hot dog lunch..classy)

And a little Jungle Jim's. That place is so fun the girls loved it. We have been there a few times now and everytime I come away feeling so sea sick...all the rides go round in circles. Luckily Em went on everything with them this time so I was off the hook.
And can I just say this ride the girls are on goes so so fast and the girls loved every second.

This has nothing to do with Easter, but we did lots of playing outside when the lousy weather permitted. (Jimmy deep in thought in the background planning out the landscaping he is wanting to having done....my thoughts on that shall be saved for another post).

We did lots of other easter crafts/games leading up to the big day.

And of course spent lots of time talking about the real meaning of Easter.

The girl's easter baskets.

Side note. Why do people over here give so many presents at Easter? I had just picked up a few small chocolates from the "easter bunny" but then a friend was telling me all the things she was getting for her kids and holy smokes, it sounded like Christmas all over again. So I ran to the store quickly and grabbed a few measly presents. Jimmy then gave me "we don't need to do what everyone else is doing" chat, but we kinda do, am I right?

Sorry, so many off topic comments in this post.

Sophie so excited for the easter bunny, she couldn't stay in bed past 6am. Awesome.

Nora wasn't quite sure what she had received.

Love this pic. Such a typical face from her.

But she dove right into the chocolates...thats my girl.

Believe it or not this is our most successful easter morning, before church picture. I should have posted the others because they were quite comical.

Then after to church off to mother Skidmore's home for dinner and an easter egg hunt.

We were greeted by these two attractive individuals.

(Also, I actually do have two brothers who never seem to make it onto the blog...whoops)

Oh wait there's Sam, helping Nora find her easter eggs in style.
(Don't mind the walmart bags...we are super classy around these parts)

After Sunday I decided we were all (especially me) going on a sugar detox after all the chocolate we (again, mostly I) consumed. That lasted long as you can see. The girls this morning with their cute friend and some ginormous lollipops she bought over.

I think that was my longest blog post to date. Congrats if you made it to the end. You are a champ.
Now Jimmy and I are off to Newport Beach for a few days for some much needed sun.

p.s. two more sleeps until the royal wedding....literally cannot contain my excitement!

Opposites

2011-04-20T15:00:00.000-07:00

Could these two little girls be more different? Seriously they are like salt and pepper.
Sophie girl is the epitome of feminine. She loves princesses, anything pink or purple, glitter, sparkles, nail polish, singing. You name it she likes it.

She loves letting me dress her up and do her hair pretty

And her favorite thing right now is dancing. She asks every day if it is Friday yet because that is when she gets to go to dance class.

I kind of thought all of my girls would be like that because that is how I was when I was younger too. Infact my favorite color is still pink I'm just that awesome.

But then I had Nora. She could not be more different from Sophie in the things she likes.

Nora loves the color yellow...like is obsessed with it. Good thing her bedroom is painted yellow or we would have a problem. She has to be wearing the color yellow everyday and if you happen to give her a plate or spoon or anything for that matter that isn't yellow, you had better watch out. The girl knows how to throw a tantrum.

She couldn't care less about princesses. She always wants to be outside jumping on the trampoline or playing with the cats or feeding the sheep. She loves balls and loves to wrestle people....a fight between her and Sophie is hilarious to watch. Nora can pin her down in no time.

But despite their differences Sophie and Nora and the best little friends. They play all day long together, usually pretty happily.

I'm so glad they are opposites. They make a pretty cute team.

Obsessions

2011-04-06T09:41:00.000-07:00

Nothing too new is going on around here. The girls are still alive and healthy and doing cute/funny things. Jimmy is still working hard and bringing home the bacon, and I am still busy spending his hard earned cash...it is a win win for everyone.

Anyhoo, I have a few new (and some not so new) obsessions these past few months, and since the girls are upstairs absorbed in a game of "family" with their friends, I thought I would share some of them with you lucky lucky people.

This bedroom from the fabulous blog Me Oh My Mama is by far the best bedroom I have seen for a long long time. It speaks to me on so many levels. I have had my eye on that mateo bedding for a while and this has convinced me to pull the trigger.

See, perfection. Okay moving on. One of my fave stores from England has just opened a US branch called Nextdirect and I could not be more excited. Their kids clothes are to die for.

Oh my gosh. I can just see Nora in that dress, and those boys clothes...I want a boy just to dress him like that.

And JCrew has done it again with their clothes and especially swimsuits. I am not usually a fan of red at all but this swimsuit has made me reconsider.

I have loved the Our Best Bites blog for a while so when I saw their new cookbook at Costco it went straight into the cart. Everything I have tried from there has been amazing. Back to clothes again, wedges are my go to shoe. These anthropologie wedges are so perfect for summer. They are practically calling my name.

The past few months my back has been kind of acting up and nothing helps it better than a good session of pilates. My Yoga Online has so many good workouts. I love the fact that lying on your back and doing some stretches classes as exercise...awesome.

I am obsessed with all things royal wedding right now, and it has nothing at all to do with balding Prince William, and everything to do with Kate Middleton. She is one classy lady. You had better believe that I have her on my google news reader and will for sure be waking up at 4am to watch her waltz down the aisle.

And lastly, food storage. This is a pretty new obsession, but after watching the sad events in Japan recently, I knew that something needed to be done incase of an emergency here. So off to Macy's case lot sale I went and after adding to/beginning our food storage I am on a role.

Okay, I think I have wasted a sufficient amount of time and should probably go be a parent and make sure the kids upstairs are still alive.

Making me happy

2011-03-17T12:47:00.001-07:00

Spring is almost here and I could not be more excited. Has this winter seemed like it has lasted FOREVER to anyone else?

Anyway, this past week I have been seeing more and more signs of spring appearing...

We are feeling pretty proud the tulips we planted last fall are actually growing.

Now if I only I could keep the pesky deer away....

Baby lambs grazing in the pasture next to our house. The girls are dying to go over and feed them bottles of milk

My two little munchkins decked out in their sunglasses
I could eat them up

I cut bangs and a little bob on Nora because her hair wasn't looking so hot and I'm so glad I did. She looks like a little girl now instead of a homeless urchin baby

Sophie during her daily beauty ritual

Clearly I need to give her a little makeup 101 lesson

These 3 make me happy everyday

Sisters

2011-02-25T13:01:00.000-08:00

I loved having siblings close in age to me growing up, and especially having so many sisters (I have four). Some of my fave memories are of playing together and now they are my best friends.

(Speaking of which, my sister Becky wrote the cutest blog post about my younger sister Ruth who turned 18 today here)

Now it is so fun watching my two girls developing their own little sister bonds.

Sure they do their fair share of fighting (probably more than their fair share).

But as much, if not more, that they fight, they play and love and laugh and cuddle each other.

And as their mum there is nothing I love more than watching them becoming good little friends.

One of their favorite past times recently is dancing in our entrance, or as they call it the "ballroom". Their playlist of choice? Lady Gaga of course.

Great role model.

Oh, and make "potions".

Don't worry about Sophie temporarily refusing to pose

Let's take a closer look at how much Nora loves it

I could literally eat her up

Oh, and lets not forget their love for jumping on the couches

Love them

Catch up

2011-02-23T09:52:00.001-08:00

I have been the worst at documenting and keeping track of things lately. I need to so I don't forget anything. You know, the every day things that change so quick that I don't remember them anymore. So thats my new goal. Be prepared for more blogging from me.

Anywho, I am trying to relish every minute of no commitments before Soph begins preschool in the fall. I am enjoying not having to be anywhere with them. It is slow paced and easy and I love it.

These pics are all from January...I am a slacker I know. Better late than never though right?

Soph "graduated" from her gym class and had a little recital to show what she had learned

My girlies and I

The bop (translation = pacifier...I have no idea why we call it bop in our house but we do) fairy payed Nora a visit.

I had visions of it being very traumatic given how attached she was to chomping on that thing, but I guess I underestimated her. She was fine without it and never asks for it.

Super boring post, sorry

V-Day

2011-02-15T11:24:00.000-08:00

Loved spending valentines this year with my hubby feasting on indian food at Royal India and enjoying a massage at Sanctuary Spa (if you live in Utah and haven't been there before, run do not walk).

I hate when people get all mushy on their blogs about their significant other, but I will say that I lucked out in marrying James Kenneth. He is awesome.

Sophie & Nora celebrated valentines with a few hours worth of playing "wedding".

Nora, the unwilling groom is not pictured.

What I have been waiting for...

2011-01-28T18:34:00.000-08:00

Since I found out 4 years ago I was pregnant with a little girl, I have been excited about the day she would begin dance class. Well this morning that day arrived. Sophie started ballet lessons at her cute friend Kinley's house and she was so excited to be doing it with some of her friends in the neighborhood. We went and picked out ballet attire yesterday and Sophie couldn't have been more happy

Can you tell I love having girls?!

Stretching out beforehand

Work it girl

My pretty ballerina

And her sister wanted in on the action too
She lay on the rug and rolled around until I took pictures of her
Silly girl

My little sunbeam

2011-01-10T20:18:00.001-08:00

With the start of the new year Sophie has graduated from nursery and moved up to primary. Seriously, since when am I old enough to have a child in primary...crazy.

She was pretty excited about it

Couldn't love my two little ones any more

Christmas

2011-01-10T12:59:00.001-08:00

Christmas this year treated us well. It was our first year having christmas morning at our own house and it was sooooo nice being able to start our own little family traditions and have the girls wake up in their own beds to see santa had come.

Christmas eve we had a little party at our house with my family

which featured dinner, some pretty intense games and the yearly nativity

Sophie was mary

She was very serious about acting out all parts of Mary's labor and delivery

Mary and Joseph (my brother Ben)

The shepherds and angel

Setting out treats for santa before bed with auntie em

We opened our christmas jammies before the girls went to bed and had a little photo shoot

Sophie in bed with stocking at the end of the bed....she ran to bed by herself saying she didn't need a story or anything...the first time that has ever happened

Christmas morning the girls were very excited about their dolls house

And Sophie's one request for Christmas this year was a Princess & the Frog doll. It was the last present she opened and she was so happy to have it in her posession

Helping Nora with her presents

Nora with her very own baby doll which she loves and has not really let out of her sight since Christmas

Christmas afternoon was spent at my mums house complete with a delicious 3 course meal

Sisters (minus Em)

Before we went over to my mums we stopped by a Marshelese party close by (Jimmy went on his mission to the Marshal Islands so he was very excited to see some of the people he had taught who have since moved over, and speak the language again)

More marshelese (sp?) natives

Boxing day (the day after Christmas) we headed up to Canada to spend the week with Jimmy's family. It was fun to see everyone. One of Sophie's highlights was ice skating on the pond by Jimmy's house as often as she liked. She started out being pushed on the chair by Jimmy but soon graduated to skates

Nora got in on the action walking on the ice

And the kids loved being pulled behind Grandpa's 4 wheeler on the sled

Jimmy and Nora

Well all the kids EXCEPT Nora loved it

She had a few tumbles on the ice too

Ooops, back to Sophie skating on the pond

And Jimmy braved the -20 degree weather in a jersey...so manly

Before he passed out from hypothermia jk

Adorable Nora

We took the girls bowling one day in Lethbridge...they lost interest pretty quickly but I couldn't get enough of the teeny tiny bowling shoes

We met up with our friends the Harris' and Nora quickly struck up a love affair with their adorable little boy Luke....good thing he is 2 days older than her

Visiting with Great Grandpa Ken (during Nora's nap time clearly)

And there is our Christmas in a nutshell

Cancun

2010-12-19T12:49:00.000-08:00

Last week we went on an impromptu trip to Cancun (thanks to Darren). It was perfect. The weather was just right, the resort was heavenly, the beach was the nicest I have ever been on, the spa was amazing, and of course it is always a treat to spend time together as a family.

Both of the girls were troopers on the plane.

And they loved staying in the hotel and snuggling together while watching Charlie & Lola before going to bed every night

On the beach

We took a boat ride around the coral reef which was fun

Jimmy went snorkeling and saw lots of cool fish....I was chickened out of joining him, due to my fear of sharks....seriously they were like sitting ducks out there, no thank you

down watching the fish

Sophie showing nora the different types of fishies...their little relationship is so cute

On the dock

Nora was scared of the ocean...she just curled her legs up anytime we took her near it

Sophie meanwhile couldn't get enough

Making sandcastles

In the ocean with dad

Picture courtesy of Sophie

Right outside our hotel room there was a little play structure and lots of pools which the kids loved

At the pool

We had so much delicious food....we must have gained quite a few pounds..totally worth it

The girls put on a little show at one of the restaurants with their morrocas...the rest of the diners were very entertained

Sophie fit in with the locals

One of my fave trips ever! Now we have christmas to look forward to!

Christmas Tour of Our Home...

2010-12-07T14:21:00.000-08:00

Come one in....

Entrance

Family room

Family room

Formal sitting room

Kitchen

Girl's jack and jill bathroom

Nora's bedroom

Nora's bedroom (don't mind the awful blurry pictures btw)

Sophie's closet

Sophie's bedroom

Playroom

Laundry room

Master bath

Powder room

Exercise room

Emily's baptism

2010-12-07T14:07:00.001-08:00

My cute youngest sister Emily got baptised last Saturday. It was such a special day. I was wierded out when my mum told us she was having another baby...I was 17 at the time and when she was born I had gone to college so I never really had the typical sister relationship with her. But now I am so glad I have such a young sister...she is good little friends with Sophie, and I'm sure will be with Nora as she gets bigger.

We love you Em!

November

2010-11-28T21:14:00.001-08:00

November has been a super fun, busy month...I cannot believe it is going to be December in a few days, but we are super excited about Christmas around here. Anyway, here is a quick round up of some things we have been doing this month:

The girls play together so well (most of the time) now Nora is walking...it is so fun watching them being little friends. They were watching Angelina Ballerina the other morning and I came into the room to see them cuddled up like this....so cute.

Nora is a climber and explorer....getting a little stuck in the shopping cart

Sophie having reading time

We have been to lots of basketball games so far this season...mostly BYU but here we are way up in the rafters in a box at a Jazz game

Em turned 8 and we had a little party at our house to celebrate

With the fam

Nora officially became old enough for nursery which she is loving!

We enjoyed the beautiful fall weather the beginning of November. The girls favorite thing...playing and being thrown into the piles of leaves

Nora in the leaves

Silly Sophie

Girls in the leaves

We had a bonfire with some friends one night in our back garden and of course cracked out the smores....it was delightful

And then of course the snow came. The girls were pretty excited to have rides on their sled around the garden

There were a few casualties

And then of course we had Thanksgiving. Jimmy's brother Danny and his family came to stay from Canada, which is always lots of fun. We did lots of things I didn't take pictures of like swimming, sledding in the back garden, shopping (by Tammy and I), big sleepovers in Sophie's room. We are sad they are gone now. Sophie loved playing with her cousins, especially cute little Westin - Sophie and West decided they are getting married. I'll let them roll with it for right now.

On thanksgiving day. Our front family room pretty much looked like a restaurant...it worked. I am pretty excited for the day we can have a big enough table for everyone to be able to sit at

Beth with Sophie and Westin. (Yes my child does have makeup on, and no I did not apply it...but the girl has killer lashes...just a little jealous)

Meanwhile....Nora enjoyed her some pie

The rest of the day the adults relaxed and kids played and watched a movie in the playroom

The end

18 months

2010-11-08T13:39:00.000-08:00

My baby turned 18 months a few days ago...how is that possible. Seriously. I swear she was just born. She is such a happy, funny, spunky, beautiful little girl and we are so blessed to have her in our family.

A few things about Nora at this age:

She talks all the time, can say almost every word we do and is starting to string words together
Copies everything Sophie does and says, she is her little shadow and they are partners in crime always getting into some kind of mischief
She just barely reached 21 lbs which is wierd because she eats like it is her job, but she is tall for her age
Loves to give hugs and kisses
Takes 2, 2 1/2 hour naps a day and sleeps 13 hours at night
Knows exactly what she wants and when she doesn't get it she can throw quite a tantrum

We love our Norie girl

Halloween

2010-10-31T13:01:00.001-07:00

For halloween this year Nora was a monkey (because we are pretty sure she is a twin of curious george), and despite my best efforts to convince Sophie to be the man with the yellow hat, she ended up being a barbie princess. The girls were so excited for trick or treating and Nora caught on immediately with what was going on.

On Wednesday night we had a ward Trunk or Treat which was fun

Last night we went trick or treating. We didnt last too long given the howling wind and freezing temperatures but the girls got enough to candy to make them happy!

Pretty sure she was the cutest monkey I have ever seen

Happy with her loot

October so far..

2010-10-25T13:01:00.000-07:00

I feel like every October is so busy now with kids...there are so many fun things to see and do in Utah this time of year. So although the month isn't done yet here is a wrap up of what we have been up to so far..

We went to Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point last weekend with the Blackmers and the kids had so much fun playing in all of the different fall themed areas. Of course Sophie's fave was the Princes Pumpkin Playground. She could have stayed there all day.

Dressed up and riding on the horse

Little Nora girl after choosing her dress at the dress up station

Not the most flattering shot of Soph, but she was in full character dancing on the stage to princess songs

Totally in awe of the pumpkin princess

Such a cute carriage

Wagon ride

Sophie loved this little water pump thing

We also went to one of our fave places Wheeler Farm. The girls love seeing the animals and playing in the treehouse

We added three new members to our house this month....3 cats...they definitely do not actually live in the house...the garage is close enough for me. They are strictly mouser cats, but they have provided the girls with hours and hours of entertainment. They have been named Belle, Boots, and Blacky....bet you can't guess who named them!

Sophie is in LOVE with Belle. All day long she is carrying her round outside. She can't figure out why she doesn't want to go on the trampoline or swing with her!

Jimmy the cat man! Ha ha just kidding. Jimmy was outside cuddling with the cats a lot the first few days we got them. Now it is an ongoing joke.

And this is how Nora plays with them....by hitting with sticks. Poor cats.

The weather has been beautiful for most of October and so we have spent lots of time at the park and playing outside...trying to soak it in before the snow arrives!

I took the girls to the aquarium one day and they had a lot of fun seeing all the fish, penguins and petting the sting ray

Silly girls

Sam was in his high school play "Curtains" and we went to watch the other night. It was loooooooooong with 2 sleepy girls, but he did good!

Craft time

Nora girl eventually walks now....it only took 17 months. Now she insists on wearing shoes from the second she wakes up till she goes to bed

Carving pumpkins for FHE last week. The girls were interested in watching, but not so much in getting dirty

Sophie thought the finished product was pretty cool though!

We had some family pictures done with my family a few weeks ago...we haven't gotten them back yet but I got Ruth to take one with my camera...the girls are so bad at looking at the camera

September

2010-10-07T12:58:00.000-07:00

I have been the worst at having my camera with me recently so these pictures are of just really random things, but anyway. We have been loving September and especially the cooler weather the last few days...so excited it is fall!

Sophie making a mud and worm cake for Jimmy. Love the 3 year old world of imagination....she thinks up the craziest things. Some of her favorite pretend games are "family", "princess" (of course) and "doctor". We have to play each multiple times a day!

We went back and forth for a while about sending Soph to preschool this year, but eventually decided to hold her back since she has a late birthday. So instead she is in a tumbling class and we go to a little library class once a week. She loves both of them!

Crazy girlies

Nora's little personality is coming through more and more every day. She is pretty different than Sophie. Definitely less into princesses (although she has no choice but to participate and dress up in princess attire), LOVES balls and animals. So fun to see her becoming her own little person.

Snow White and Cinderella (pay no mind to Cinderella's bed hair)

Roasting marshmallows on our fire pit for FHE

Nora girl playing

Totally random post, but there you go

Viva Las Vegas

2010-09-14T13:30:00.000-07:00

To celebrate our 5 year anniversary, we went to Vegas for 3 days. Jimmy's parents were in town so they watched the girls. They were totally fine and had so much fun with Grandma and Grandpa. It was heavenly not to have to worry about them!

We checked in here, at the Paris

Lounged by the pool

Went to the Lion King

Ate way too much food, shopped, slept in and just generally relaxed.
It was so nice being just the two of us for more than a few hours at a time, but we were definitely ready to come home and see our little girlies by the end.

5

2010-09-08T10:40:00.001-07:00

5 years ago today we got married
So grateful for that day, and for the 5 years since then
Love you x

Birthday celebration

2010-08-18T13:23:00.000-07:00

First off it was Jimmy's 27th birthday on the 12th August so we had a little cupcake dessert.

On the 14th it was Sophie's 3rd birthday, so we started the day off with opening presents. Pretty excited with her new pink Strider bike.

Then a pancake breakfast

Then she spent the morning playing on her new play structure with Nora.

And finished off the day with a little swimming and a trip to McDonalds. Fun times.

The next day we had a little birthday party with family to celebrate the two birthdays.

Birthday girl

Opening presents

Meet the newest member of our family, Flower the fish

With their cakes...the castle did not turn out quite as anticipated...anyone want to take a cake decorating class with me?

Love this girl.

3

2010-08-13T19:31:00.001-07:00

3 years ago today our Sophie girl was born, and we started on our journey as parents.

We are so grateful she is part of our family.

She brings so much joy, mischief, humor and lots and lots of girly ness into our family.

We love you Sophie!

Canada

2010-08-10T13:54:00.001-07:00

The end of July we went up to Canada to visit family. All of Jimmy's siblings, their spouses and their kids were up making it a full house at his parents. It was super fun to spend time with them all and Sophie especially was in heaven with all her little girl cousin friends to play with all day long. We managed to get a lot packed into the week we were up there.

Drive up - 12 hours in the car with 2 tired girls = lots of fun

Jimmy with his family outside the Cardston temple

The day after we arrived, Jimmy's grandpa (who is 92) went through the temple for the first time, and then got sealed to his wife and kids....it was so nice being in the temple with Jimmy and all of his family

Magrath Days Parade...always good times
Jimmy's sister Patti and her family rode in the parade...so cute

Sophie preparing to run in the kids race, and being coached by Grandpa Wes. Just before she ran she came over to me and said, "I'm going to show Nora how you win". Unfortunately, she didn't win but she did come in 3rd out of about 20...not too shabby

McCall, Soph, Avery and Sadie

The Balderson cousins. Trying to get 22 kids to look in the same direction and smile is pretty much impossible

Sophie riding a horse....she was pretty terrified, until Nora was on with her, then she took on the role of big sister and told Nora it was going to be okay

In Waterton we hired these fun bikes to ride around town. We are by Cameron Falls here. Too bad the girls are fighting.

Cameron Falls

While we were in waterton we also hired a rowing boat to go on Cameron Lake. It was so beautiful.

My camera ran out of battery on the fourth day there so I didn't capture the other things we did. I celebrated my 26th birthday and Jimmy and I went away for the night to celebrate, leaving the girls for the first time ever. I was a little nervous, but we all survived fine...we will definitely be doing that again!

Saturday

2010-07-19T13:22:00.000-07:00

Saturday was a busy day for us. It started out with the Draper parade that, lucky for us, goes right down our street. People were pretty intense about saving spots for their family in the weeks before. Lucky for us, we rolled out of bed in the morning and came out to sit right in front of our house. It was a fun parade though...we are excited for future years!

Nora and I waiting for the parade to start (you can see our house behind us)

Sophie caught on to the catching candy concept pretty quickly!

As soon as the parade was done, we packed up and headed down to St. George where my family had a condo for a few days.

We hit the pools to escape the 115 degree heat, and relaxed.

That night we went out to eat and then headed to a little go-karting track. Sophie had a turn on the little kiddie ones

And then we had our turn...of course, Jimmy made sure he won at all costs, which we did not hear the end of for a looong time

And poor little Nora survived the whole day with no naps (she usually has 5 hours worth of naps) and eventually crashed on the ground at 10pm in the 100 degree heat....bad parent that day

The next day we went to the St. George temple and enjoyed a little more swimming before heading back. It was a fun/busy weekend.

Now I need to catch up on my laundry and re-pack ready for our trip to Canada

Camping Trip

2010-07-14T13:11:00.000-07:00

Over the long weekend we went up to Midway on a little camping trip. It is so pretty up there and it was fun to camp again....we haven't been since before Nora was born.

Sophie got in the spirit of camping in her plaid shirt and scootered around the camp site (with assistance)

There was a friendly little game of football in the park by the site

Looking at the ducks in the lake....the next morning we went fishing there, although we were unsuccessful in catching anything, and I forgot to take pictures.

We of course looked very pleasant for the experience. Gotta love no showers and smelling like camp fire!

Nora is still clinging to her crawling ways, and so it was a little challenging because all she wanted to do was crawl through the mud and into the bushes.

In unrelated news, Sophie is now in a big girl bed which she is loving and surprisingly does not get out of until a decent hour and stays in for naps (fingers crossed that continues)

And also, this girl has discovered a love for sunglasses and wears them as often as she is allowed. Sophie used to rip them right off her face, but not little Nora!

Motherhood

2010-07-01T14:06:00.000-07:00

I needed to hear this today

Catching up

2010-06-26T15:11:00.000-07:00

So we are finally into our house....it feels so nice! There are still a few odds and ends to get done so we have workers here almost everyday but hopefully that will all be taken care of soon.

In the meantime, we have been busy enjoying the summer. More for my record than anything else, here is a load of pictures of our happenings in the last few weeks.

Sophie and Em having fun running through the sprinklers

Pancake breakfasts on the deck

Lots of swimming

Nora enjoying her bottle in style

Little miss Sophie has started swim lessons at our neighbors and loves it. She does so well. She loves the water and has absolutely no fear in it. She will be swimming with her head in the water with her teacher and lift her head up to wave and then carry on. It is so funny!

In action

Little miss Nora has developed quite the little fiesty attitude. She throws tantrums like I have never seen when she doesn't get exactly what she wants. Good thing she is cute

In their little jeep we got at a garage sale

Our backyard

Swinging at our house

Nora's turn

We went to Lagoon a few weeks ago. It was so fun. Sophie loved it.

Cute Em (my youngest sister) at the "beach" at Lagoon

Playing in the sand

Taking a boat ride

Nora on the carousel (and Ruth behind us). Nora was not very into the whole thing as you can tell from her face but I forced her on anyway.

Playing in the garden at my mums

England vs USA world cup soccer game was kind of a big deal in the Skidmore house. There was a huge party to watch. I don't know if you can tell who the household was cheering for

Just incase you were confused this is the inside of the house. Good thing it was a 1-1 tie!

The end.

Happy Dad Day

2010-06-20T12:53:00.001-07:00

Fathers Day 2008

Fathers Day 2009

Fathers Day 2010

The girls love their daddy so much.
Whatever he is doing they want to be doing it with him.
There is seriously nothing cuter than watching them play or cuddle or read with him.
He is the best dad.
We are so lucky to have him.

Moving

2010-06-04T09:18:00.001-07:00

Well, we are all moved out of our old home and now living at my family's house because our house is taking a little longer to get done that we thought (which always seems to happen!) Hopefully in the next 2 weeks we will be able to move in.

Just before we moved Grandma Lorraine and Grandpa Wes came to stay, along with Cathy for cute Michelle's wedding. It was so much fun having them all stay with us. The girls loved all the extra attention.

Also before we moved in, we had a little paint party to get Sophie's room painted. It was pretty exciting since we have never been able to paint any walls in any of the places we have lived in. I am loving wallpaper right now too, ah so many options!

Then, we got around to the delightful task of packing. You would think I would be a pro at it having moved 5 times in the last 5 years...sadly, no. But the girls had fun playing in the boxes.

And in the truck.

And on moving day, in the moving truck. (Note to self: never dress your children in white pants when moving..they were black by the end of the day). It was pretty sad moving out of our little home. Beaumont Drive was good to us.

But since we have been staying at my mums, we have had fun playing at the park, farm and swimming. Nora especially loved sharing a swing ride with her cute little friend Bree at the park.

Sophie has loved dressing up in all the many cute costumes lying around the house. Here she is modeling Becky's cheer uniform.

And lastly, here is a picture of our front family room that we had knocked out to make more open. It was taken a few weeks ago, more progress has been made since this. I am so excited to see what it will all look like finished!

Nora's birthday

2010-05-11T13:48:00.000-07:00

Nora Bear's 1st birthday was last week (5th May) and we celebrated that night with a little party. Since it was Cinco De Mayo I made a Cafe Rio dinner and we had a pinata. Nora, of course was oblivious to what was going on, but the rest of us had fun...thanks to everyone who came!

Some things I don't want to forget about Nora at this age are:

* She has always been and still is a really happy, easy going little girl
* She tries to do everything her big sister is doing...I mean everything...and she gets frustrated when she can't quite do it the same way
* She loves being in the bath and going on our weekly swimming outings
* She is the biggest snuggler...my favorite thing in the world. She literally just melts into you when she is tired and has her blankee and pacifier
* She love give kisses and hugs and waves at everyone
* She is a petite little girl...not quite 18lbs at her 1 year check up and 28 inches long
* Despite this she eats everything and anything, although she still can't have too much dairy
* She is the prettiest baby I have ever seen - I may be a little biased but I don't think so
* She is such a joy to have around...we can't imagine our family without her

We love you Norie

Picture taken by the fabulous Katie Dudley

Mothers

2010-05-09T19:52:00.000-07:00

I love mothers day. I love being able to celebrate the wonderful women who have shaped my life in such a profound way. I am lucky enough to have a fabulous mother who is such a continual example to me in every aspect. Seriously, the woman is amazing. In addition to her, I have an incredible grandmother and a sweet and nurturing mother-in-law.

And of course on this day I am grateful for my two little loves, who are patient with me as I try to figure out the whole mothering thing myself.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Birthday Little Miss Nora

2010-05-05T09:11:00.003-07:00

We love you!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

April round-up

2010-05-03T15:33:00.001-07:00

Since April is now over (where has this year gone?) I thought I would post a random assortment of pictures to document our past month.

Celebrating mum's birthday

Swinging at the park

Being silly

Riding in the red car

Making mud pies

Celebrating Uncle Sam's birthday at Cafe Rio

The pumpkin park in the snow

Easter morning

Celebrating Uncle Daresy's birthday

Nora all cuddly

Girls before church

Playing in treehouses at the farm

Farm

Sleepover with Em

Exciting news!

2010-04-23T13:58:00.000-07:00

Nope I'm not pregnant again - we are about to close on our first home! As if having 2 children didn't - this definitely makes us feel like grown ups!

The house is in Draper and is exactly what we have been looking for. We are having some construction done on it so probably won't move in until the beginning of June. My mind is literally racing with decorating ideas, so excited to finally have my own place to paint/wallpaper and do whatever I want with.

Here is a sneak peek of the house:

The kitchen pretty much sold me.

Sophie in the entrance

And a view of the Draper Temple out the family room window

What a difference a year makes...

2010-04-20T12:50:00.000-07:00

Sophie giving Nora a stroller ride when she was 3 days old

and again this morning, almost a year later

My girls are growing up so fast

Look-alike

2010-04-14T13:37:00.001-07:00

Jimmy has been saying for a long time that Nora resembles a certain cute little cartoon monkey. I did NOT agree and thought he was being offensive to poor sweet Norie. But, recently I have been seeing it a little more.

Nora bear.....and her look a like....

I guess it's not the worst thing to have our very own cuddly pint sized Curious George!

March

2010-03-31T15:13:00.001-07:00

I can't believe it is the last day of March already. Other than getting ready for the wedding, which seemed to take up most of the month, here are a few other things we have been doing this month.

Learning to use the big girl pot pot - no more baby potty for Sophie (Nora kept getting into it which was disgusting)

Making bubble beards. This girl loves nothing more than soaking in a bubble bath at least once a day.

Killing two birds with one stone and brushing teeth in the bath.

Saying goodbye to Grandma and Pop before they went back to England :(

Sophie went to her first friend themed birthday party - a Princess party. She was beyond excited about it. She got so into character. I had to call her Snow White all day before she went to the party and I was the coach driver driving her off to the royal ball. Nora was assigned the role of being one of the animal friends helping her get ready for the ball and keeping the house clean (Sophie made a lot of mess that morning trying to clean up like a princess). She is obsessed with anything Princess related right now...absolutely obsessed.

The Wedding

2010-03-24T13:57:00.000-07:00

Last Friday my younger sister Beth got married. We have always been very close and it seems like we have talked about our wedding days for as long as I can remember. It feels as if we aren't really old enough to both be married, but I am so happy for her and Brad. It was such a lovely day and she was a beautiful bride.

The festivities started on Thursday night with a rehearsal dinner at the Old Mill Golf Course. I had been so nervous all week because I had to give a speech but it went okay - such a relief to have it over.

Jimmy and I

The 5 girls and mum

Beth and the 2 boys

Friday afternoon Beth and Brad were married in the Salt Lake temple. It was such an amazing and emotional ceremony.

Later that afternoon there was a ring ceremony and Sophie was the cutest little ring bearer.

That evening they had their reception on the top floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. It was so beautiful. Especially once it got dark because the whole suite was floor to ceiling windows looking over the temple and the city.

At the reception
Bridesmaids (I don't know if Beth is laughing or crying here?)

Grandma & Pop

2010-03-22T08:26:00.000-07:00

My Grandparents, Grandma and Pop are over visiting right now from England and it is so fun to have them around. I haven't seen them for about 1 1/2 years so Sophie was only about 10 months old then and Nora has never met them. I am so glad Sophie and Nora have gotten to meet them, especially Sophie since her middle name, Jean, is after my Grandma. She is pretty much amazing and has some incredible stories of her childhood living through WWII in London, and joining the church.
And Pop turns 82 tomorrow which is pretty incredible. He wants to celebrate his 82nd with a birthday meal at Cafe Rio....so that is what we are going to do. I am so glad they were able to come over and we could spend some time together!

(Also, pictures of my sisters wedding are coming. I just am swamped trying to catch up with everything after a crazy last week!)

February

2010-03-03T13:10:00.000-08:00

February was a busy month for us and especially for Nora. She got her first two teeth, started crawling and pulling herself into standing on everything. Life is a little crazy trying to keep up with the girls, get things ready for Beth's wedding next month, and start looking for houses (I feel so grown up!) but it has been a fun month. Here is just a random collection of shots to summarize some of what we have been doing.

The bride to be at one of her showers last week - I think she needs to work a little on her smiling skills in pictures before the big day, no?

Sophie and Jimmy had a daddy daughter day at the BYU game last Saturday. Sophie was SO excited that I wasn't going which made me feel great!

We went up the canyons and played in the snow

It is seriously so beautiful up there right now

Nora got to ride with grandma....tough being a baby!

Nora

Jimmy and I went to the Elton John-Billy Joel concert the other week. Jimmy got free tickets through work otherwise we would not have gone since they are quite a bit before our time. It was pretty fun though - they are both amazingly talented

At the concert - we left half way through - we are party animals!

Over President's Day we went on a little hike around Dimple Dell. Nora got to hitch a ride again this time with daddy

Sophie with Em - she was so excited to have found some snow since it hasn't snowed here in forever!

Heart shaped valentines pancake

Doing valentine crafts with her friends - I forgot to get a group shot :(

Sophie and Em frosted valentine cookies - well Em frosted and Sophie just ate the frosting. She takes after her mum

The one day it snowed this month Sophie played out in it for a long long time and was obsessed with catching the snow in her mouth

Sophie introduced Nora to bubbles and was a little confused when Nora didn't quite get as excited as her about it. Cute Norie

Sophie and I

Sophie

Went to Wheeler Farm and chased the animals

And fed the horses grass

And had lots and lots of play dates

The end

Love these two faces

2010-02-28T14:13:00.000-08:00

9 months

2010-02-18T14:24:00.001-08:00

Where have the last 9 months gone? It seems like just a few weeks ago I was waiting, oh so impatiently, for little Nora to make her grand entrance into the world.

Now she is a crawling, teething, standing, clapping, waving, kissing, smiley little girl with the sweetest temperament.

We love baby Norie!

Dancing and Showers

2010-02-09T15:02:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago we went to watch my younger sister Ruth compete in state drill. She is pretty much an AM-AZING dancer. I am quite sure if she tried out for SYTYCD she would make it and probably win...I have no bias at all of course.

(She is the one on the front row in the middle)

Sophie was excited to watch all of the dancers and sat captivated for the whole 3 hours we were there. And she was pretty in awe of Ruth when she came out to see as after she had performed.

Also, the wedding festivites are beginning for my sister Beth who gets married on March 19th. Her friend threw her an adorable shower on Saturday and all of my sisters and I were able to make it. Even though we all live within 45 minutes of each other we aren't all together that often so it was fun. We are excited for 5 weeks time when Beth becomes Mrs. Clifford! (Sophie is especially excited to wear her "Cinderella" dress for the wedding...except she really thinks she is wearing her Cinderella dress. I don't know how to let her down about that one).

Crazy hair

2010-01-30T14:17:00.000-08:00

Why is it that every meal time Nora thinks it is necessary to wipe her food through her hair?

I'm pretty sure she does it because she knows then she gets two baths a day

Of course she never gets to bath alone
Little Miss Sophie likes to hop in every time too

Somebody dressed themself today...

2010-01-21T13:00:00.000-08:00

She looked pretty stunning

And she INSISTED on leaving the house wearing this to run errands with me
Some battles are just not worth fighting

Somebody also climbed into their little sisters crib when she was done with her nap
I was on the phone and came in five minutes later to find...

All the rag dolls in Nora's crib with lip gloss stains on them
(this picture is taken after 2 washes - I can't get it out)

And poor sweet Nora with her hair literally matted to her head, full of lip gloss goop
Plus lipgloss in her eyes, ears, all over her mouth and pretty much everywhere else you can think of
I didn't take a picture of that
I wasn't really in a picture taking mood at the time

Just stay little

2010-01-20T13:18:00.001-08:00

I just ordered this beauty off etsy (my current obsession) for the girls room
It pretty much sums up how I feel right now

I enrolled Sophie in pre-school for the fall yesterday
I am so excited for her, I think she will love it
But at the same time I couldn't help feeling a little sad
It means I only have her with me all day everyday for another few months

Then she just smeared lip gloss all over the walls and peed on the couch
I think we will be just fine without each other for a few hours a week

8 Months

2010-01-13T13:53:00.000-08:00

Nora is now 8 months old.
I can barely believe it. She is such a little doll.
We love her!

Nora's favorite things to do are:

Watch Sophie play and grab at her toys
Chew pretty much anything (although she still has no teeth)
Rub her food all through her hair at every meal - it is lots of fun. So much easier having a baby who is completely bald...although I do love that she has so much hair
Squeal as loud as she can to get attention and recently say "yayayaya" and "dadadada" repeatedly...no mama yet, what's up with that?
Wave and clap which she just learned and does all day long - it's pretty cute if I do say so myself
Rock back and forth on her knees for about 10 minutes without actually moving anywhere
Scoot backwards and in circles to get where she wants to
Cuddle - she loves being held and cuddled and have stories read to her

And, yesterday for the first time I did her hair in a little pony tail of sorts.
It looked pretty cute.
I couldn't do anything in Sophie's hair until she was 18 months.
And in this picture she is showing off her crazy waving skills.

And here is her crazy older sister Sophie.
I came into the playroom yesterday and she was dressed like this.

But later in the day she did give me her first proper smile with no squinty eyes in about 6 months.

New Years Resolutions

2010-01-02T13:18:00.000-08:00

2009 was a busy year for our family: a new baby, moving to a new state and a new job for Jimmy. Hopefully this year will be a little calmer. There will definitely be no new babies (or pregnancies) this year, no new jobs and we are not planning on moving states. But I do have big lists of things I want to get done this year.

For Sophie I have big plans this year. Firstly I am finally going to get around to properly potty training her. She is pretty much there but I have just been too lazy to deal with accidents in public etc., but January is the month, I can feel it! Also, I have a feeling following in the footsteps of the success of the pacifier fairy, the bottle fairy may be visiting our house in a few weeks to take away her bottles. Yes, that's right. She still drinks her milk in bottles and she is 2 1/2. Don't judge me, it is just so easy and she loves it. But the time has come for her to graduate to sippy cups.

For Nora I don't really have any big goals since she is allowed to still use her diaper and drink from bottles...although she really doesn't like the bottle and gags and turns her face away from it when I try and feed her with it, but I am soooooo ready to finish weaning. So if anybody has any suggestions with that I would love to hear them.

Okay but for the family here are my goals:
1. Get our food storage in order. And when I say in order, I mean start it because right now if there was a disaster, we would survive maybe a few hours. So yes, 72 hour kits, 3 month supplies, and all that goes with that. I am getting it all done this year.
2. I am getting in shape. I really am. It has been 8 months since I had a baby...no more excuses for not exercising. Plus, Jimmy got me some work out clothes for Christmas and signed me up with a gym membership - I can take a hint.
3. There are so many craft projects I want to do for around the house. I love love the Little Green Notebook. She has so many cute ideas that I want to do in the girls room.

Okay, that's enough goals for right now. Sorry this was the most boring post in the history of posts.

Canadian Christmas

2009-12-30T13:29:00.000-08:00

This year we spent Christmas up in Canada with Jimmy's family. It was my first time up there in the winter and it was rather cold but very pretty. It was so fun to spend time with grandparents and all of Sophie's little cousins. She was in heaven with so many friends around 24/7 to play with.

We left Utah at 5am so we could make it up to Canada in time for Jimmy to play in a hockey game, which he loved.

In all the times I have watched Jimmy play sports I have never seen him so sweaty as after he was done with hockey. It was very attractive.

Norie

Sophie and Owen on a sled ride

On the quad with dad

The girls sledding...look at how red Sophie's face is. It was so so freezing.

Nora and I

Sophie found some sheep at Uncle John's

Having a ride at the ice rink

Nora, Elias and Maysa having a ride around the ice on the sled

Sophie playing a little hockey. Good thing she has a mullet - she fit right in up there.

With Maysa

Jumping on the bed with Owen

An angel in the nativity Christmas Eve

Santa came to see the kids Christmas Eve - Sophie was pretty nervous of him. Christmas morning she would not get out of her crib until I had assured her that Santa was not downstairs - he has jusr left the presents and gone.

Opening christmas jammies Christmas Eve

Christmas morning - Sophie is pretty excited!

The pink horsie from Grandma

Christmas day

It is pretty much impossible to get a picture of three toddlers sitting still and looking at the camera!

Merry Christmas

2009-12-17T20:32:00.000-08:00

Santa

2009-12-05T12:52:00.000-08:00

Santa came to the ward Christmas breakfast this morning and Sophie was pretty excited/nervous to see him. She whispered to him that she would like some "teets" (treats) for Christmas. I seriously think she would be happy with a 50 cent bar of chocolate wrapped up.

Sophie and Nora by our Christmas tree. This is the last year we are having a fake one. I'm putting my foot down over this one.

And today is Nora bear's 7 month birthday. She is sitting up now and trying to move around..she scoots backwards and is getting pretty good at standing holding onto things. Life will be crazy when she can walk as well. I don't think I will ever be able to keep things tidy. Oh well I guess I will just have to live with that.

Once there was a snowman...

2009-11-24T09:45:00.001-08:00

A pretty small snowman, but a snowman nonetheless!

And on an unrelated note, the pacifier (or "bop" as Sophie calls them) fairy came a few nights ago and took all of Sophie's pacifiers. It was about time. She bid a fond farewell to them before she went to bed and enjoyed the treats that were left in the morning. So far, so good.

Our house

2009-11-20T13:50:00.000-08:00

I am so glad we are private now. We had scary random people from Asia keep contacting us and telling us they had seen pictures of our girls and thought they were adorable. I mean I totally agree with them, they are pretty cute, but do I want people I have never met looking at pictures of them? No. It totally freaked me out. So, anyway I feel so much better having the blog private now so I can post whatever I want without worrying.

I didn't want to post pictures of our house before because I didn't want randomers being able to find us (I know paranoid). But now I can! So we are just renting right now until we figure out where we want to buy, which we have now. We are going to stay in Holladay since it has the best schools in Utah. But we are loving renting this house for right now until we find our dream house. After living in an 800 square foot apartment for 2 years in California we feel super spoiled and pretty grown up in an actual house! Probably our favorite part is the sun room we converted into a play room. The girls just love playing in there and they can always see me in the house which means I don't always have to be sat right there with them!

And the back garden is divine. In the summer we had grapes, cherries, apples and pears growing on the trees. They were delicious. Sophie is loving having space to run around out there and explore.

The front of the house.

Cute Sophie posing on the front step

And I couldn't leave out little Nora bear all dressed up and ready for church

Loving the snow today

2009-11-14T13:03:00.000-08:00

6 Months

2009-11-05T18:54:00.001-08:00

Cute little Nora bear,

Why have you grown up so fast? Just six months ago you were a helpless, cuddly little newborn

The moment I saw you I fell in love

So did Daddy and your big sister Sophie (although she may not have always acted very excited about it)

But you love playing together

We are so glad you are part of our family

Private

2009-11-02T08:34:00.000-08:00

There are too many weirdo's out there so we are going private. Leave your email if you want to still be able to view our blog or send me your email at hannah_balderson@hotmail.com.

Thanks!

Halloween

2009-11-01T14:26:00.001-08:00

We had such a fun week of Halloween festivites. Sophie loved trick or treating and being able to wear her princess dress lots of times. Halloween has got to be a kids favorite holiday!

Cinderella and the cute little pumpkin before our ward trunk or treat

Cinderella striking a pose

A cuddly pumpkin

Nora wore Sophie's ladybug halloween costume from last year to Jimmy's work party and she looked like such a little doll.

Trick or treating last night. Sophie was hyper all night long. It was pretty funny.

Getting more loot!

We had a fun Halloween and we are sad it is over. Now, Thanksgiving to look forward to!

Love this face

2009-10-30T18:08:00.000-07:00

Carrots and Cupcakes

2009-10-26T14:08:00.000-07:00

Nora had her first taste of real food yesterday...carrots! She loved it...I couldn't shovel it into her mouth quickly enough. Little chunker!

Last week, Sophie and some friends in her cute little book group went to So Cupcake to frost and decorate miniature cupcakes.

Sophie thought they were delicious!