Wedding

My brother got married and asked my girls to be the flower girls. Emma was so excited to dress up and be part of the wedding. I don't think Olivia had any clue what was going on but was excited to get a new dress!

Emma, Taylor and Olivia

Olivia, Harrison, Taylor and Emma









My Mom, Grandma and Me



My Dad and Emma


My cute family


The Happy Couple

Wedding Dinner

The night before their wedding, Gary and Cristi treated friends and family to a nice dinner. Olivia had been up the entire night before, so unfortunately Jeremy had to stay home with her. They gave both girls a cute necklace and earrings to wear at the wedding the next day.

Getting Back a Little Sanity

I'm finally getting a few minutes to myself.

My goal is to finish blogging about December before March arrives- and yes, I realize that's Monday.

Look for a bunch of posts coming soon.

I know, you are holding your breath in anticipation.

Avenue Q

Jeremy really wanted to see Avenue Q. I had never heard of it, but I love a good musical, so I was excited that he wanted to take me. We went out to dinner first and then to Capitol Theatre.

I can't believe how hard I laughed. You would really have to see it for yourself to appreciate it.
Here is a little clip from the Tony Awards, which was rated PG.
The actual show...not so much.

Olivia's Last Day of Speech School

Olivia has been in an amazing speech school with the Jordan School District since she turned two. There are three teachers for only five kids. We have loved it so much and Olivia has improved significantly since going here. Unfortunately, today was her last day since has turned three. We are so sad to leave, but grateful for the opportunity to have been involved in such a great program.

Valentines Day

It was nice that Valentines Day fell on a Sunday this year. We carried on our Sunday tradition of going to Village Inn and then to Boondocks. Landon won me a rose that had earrings in them. He was so excited for me. I just love my family!

Oh-Verwhelmed with Oh-Livia

I've been a little overwhelmed over the last six months, which is why I haven't been able to keep up on my blog. With Jeremy working 80+ hours a week, I am truly a single parent without the luxury of having every other weekend off.

Landon's school is really aggressive right now and requires a lot of help from me. In addition to Scouts, we've also started piano for both kids, and dance for Emma. Livi is still in speech therapy once a week and is starting an articulation class next week.

An aggressive schedule like this is hard enough as a single mom without throwing any additional curve balls my way.

Enter Olivia...the cutest curve ball ever.

As a 2-year old, it's normal for her to have a hard time transitioning from one activity to another. It's also normal to have difficulty communicating her needs, which ends in a tantrum. However, with her sensory disorder, everything is intensified times five.

*Fair Warning: I'm about to go on incessantly about poo. Yes, poo. Please stop reading now if you don't want to hear about poo.

In January Livi had a double ear infection, which put her on antibiotics. This medicine backed her up really bad. We ended up giving her an enema after she didn't go for ten days. Since then she has been holding it in for fear that it will hurt each time she goes poop. Every couple of hours she screams bloody murder, and wants me to hold her because she's so traumatized by the whole thing that happened THREE WEEKS ago. I can't get anything done. I leave the room and she chases after me like I'm going to make a run for it.

Which I am.

I can't change her diaper because she thinks we are going to give her another enema. We end up holding her down to change a simple wet diaper, which traumatizes her more, and the cycle continues.

Oh, meanwhile, I have to do a Science Fair project for Landon, drive Emma to dance, make a salad for Scouts, help Emma with a book report, drive to piano, practice piano, plan Emma's birthday, and plan Livi's birthday. Oh, and then there's the laundry, bills, lunch, dinner, cleaning and other day-to-day tasks.

With an over sized 2-year old on my hip.

Screaming.

Also, since this traumatizing pooping event, she hasn't slept through the night. She wakes up every few hours screaming as though there is someone in her room pulling her up by her ears.

There's not.

I actually had to go back to forcing her to "cry it out", like I did when she was a newborn.

Except she just turned three.

Someone once said, 'God will never give you more than you can handle.'

Well, I'd like to meet that someone...

and throw him off a cliff...

and see how well he handles that.

I know I still have to post about Christmas, Emma's Birthday, Livi's Birthday, Valentines Day, and a few events in between. But, I need to go to sleep so I can be awakened in a few hours by my little curve ball.

Good night!

Annual Girls' Valentines Day Party

My cute friend Andra loves to host parties. I wish I were creative and talented in that area... I would probably host a lot more parties if I were. But, alas, if it's not something that can be done on a computer, I can't do it.

Each year she hosts a Valentine's Day party, where each guest needs to bring hand-made valentines to share with the group. The first year I made Twilight Candy Bar wrappers (again, by using my awesome computer skills). At that time I hadn't read the Twilight series, but I knew most of the girls had, so it would be a big hit. I was pretty impressed with myself until I got to the party and saw what all the talented ladies brought. I ended up slightly embarrassed with my little computer-generated gift.

This year, I actually considered snubbing the party so I didn't have to face the same embarrassment. Then I remembered there is an amazing website, etsy.com that allows crafty women (and some men) to sell the things they hand-make to those like myself, that are 'crafty-impaired'.

I found a talented woman who goes by the name of Ole Bag Lady, that makes the cutest fabric gift bags. I figured I could add some lotions and candy, and be all set. I think the hardest part was admitting that I didn't actually make them when everyone "ooh'd and awe'd" over these cute bags. I totally should have lied and said I made them, but I'm a bad liar. I can't even sew a button.

Anywho...

It was a great party (thanks Andra) and I got some great ideas for crafts that I may actually be able to make in the future.

If not, I'm sure I can find them on esty ;)

the loot

the host

the girls

the table

I'm Fee!!!

Olivia is three...or as she says..."Fee".

This morning we woke up and sang happy birthday to her and immediately opened her presents.

She loved her Dora dress up so much she wanted to put it on right away.

After hanging out and playing for a few hours, it was time to get ready for the family party. Any time we tell Livi we are going to a party, she says, "where's my party dress?" I'm not sure why, but she insists on wearing a dress to every party. She got to choose any dress out of her closet. I love that she chose this dress, because it's the same dress Emma wore when I got my pictures taken when I was pregnant with Olivia.

We had a lot of fun with the family and Livi of course got spoiled!

Where were all the guys you ask?

Well, her birthday happened to fall on Superbowl Sunday...

Olivia is such a fun girl to have around. She is always making us laugh and is VERY stubborn. She will do anything I ask, as long as it's on her terms and if we make it seem like it was her idea.
She loves to sing and play with her sister's Pet Shops. She also loves Dora and Max and Ruby. She likes to do "match sticks" (gymnastics) and ride her "cooter" (scooter).

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!!

Emma Turns Seven

I can't believe my little girl is seven years old!

There is so much about Emma that I absolutely adore. She is such a perfectionist. I never have to discipline her, because she's already so hard on herself. She is also pretty sassy... I haven't decided if that is a good trait yet. She picks on Landon just to see his reaction, but she loves him more than any sister can love a brother. She is also an amazing sister to Olivia. Whenever she gets hurt, Emma genuinely hurts for her. Last month Olivia fell down the stairs and Emma rushed to console her. A few hours later Emma had tears in her eyes and told me she was just thinking about when Olivia fell down the stairs.

Emma is incredibly smart. Not just "book-smart", but she has really good instincts about people and is definitely "street-smart". My favorite thing about her is that even though she is a grown-up seven year old, she still loves it when I call her princess and loves to cuddle with her mom and dad. I hope that when she's 16 she will still let me cuddle with her.

For her birthday she came right home to a bunch of presents that were wrapped in her favorite color.

Then we got ready for dinner and took some pictures.





Emma decided she wanted to go to Chili's for dinner.



I am so incredibly blessed to be Emma's mom.
Happy Birthday Princess!

Kids Say the Darndest Things

I'm thinking Olivia watches too much 'Max & Ruby'. When Landon was getting dressed for scouts, Olivia said, "Is Landon is going to Bunny Scouts?".

Every night during dinner, we ask the kids about their "highs and lows" for the day. We always ask Livi her high and she usually just giggles because she has no idea what we are asking her. Today, as we were asking Landon about his high, Livi yelled out..."My high was Walmart!" and yes, we did go to Walmart that day.

Livi kept biting Emma. When I told her to stop, she said, "First you put me in time out, then you come and get me, then I tell Emma sorry, then I stop biting." So, I guess we do this routine a little too often?

Landon and Emma were chewing gum and Landon said, "Emma, did you know you can burn 10 calories and hour chewing gum?". Emma then responded, " I know, why do you think I put in two pieces?".

Emma: We did a science fair project to see what had the most germs in our room; the door knob, my desk, and pencils and stuff.
Mom: So, what had the most germs?
Emma: My desk.
Mom: Ew, why is your desk so dirty?
Emma: Because it has the germs of every kid in the class.
Mom: Why?
Emma: (with a sigh) because mom, everyone loves me.

Landon had to write thank you cards as a scout project. The card he gave Jeremy read, "Dad, thanks for always taking us to fun places."
My card read, "Mom, thanks for keeping the house clean".

January Fun

Just a few random pictures from January. I haven't let Livi out in the snow yet because I didn't want to deal with her complaining about being cold and also didn't want her to get sick. I know, best mom ever. Anyway, here is her one and only time she was 'allowed' to run free in the snow...and yes, two days later she was sick. But, I guess it was worth it because she was so happy!


The next day, Emma and Maloreigh had a sleep over. It's funny to watch Olivia follow them around like a lost puppy. She absolutely adores Maloreigh. I found a 3D movie about planets and thought it might be fun to watch (I know, again, the funnest mom EVER). It was fun for about five minutes while all the kids got on the floor and put on their glasses while giggling. Then the educational part started and the girls left. Landon of course stayed and watched the whole thing and later commented on all that he learned. Love that kid!

Shopping Day

My brother asked my girls if they wanted to be flower girls at their wedding in March. Emma jumped at the chance to get dressed up and be in a wedding. Today we went shopping for dresses.

First, a stop at the merry-go-round

Their colors were black and pink so we tried on both colors.
Livi thought it was so fun to put on the same dress as Emma.
It makes her feel so big.


Then Emma tried on the most beautiful black dress.
It made her look so grown up.
She loved it.
I didn't.


I wanted her to wear a frilly babydoll dress.
Not one that makes her look twelve!


She didn't like looking little.
She won.
They both looked amazing.

Landon was bored.
Poor guy.