She's a Mover and a Shaker

Vanessa has finally mastered the art of rolling. She has been rolling from her back to belly for a while now but has struggled with rolling back to her back. She would get on her belly and then get mad and just start screaming. Monday night she figured out how to get back on her back. We cheered and clapped so she gave us a huge smile. She was so proud of herself. For the first bit every time she rolled back onto her back she'd look at us for her cheers. By the next day, she didn't care about the cheers anymore, she'd just keep flipping over and over. For the first little while she could only roll one way so she'd roll herself into things like the entertainment center, couches, etc. It was funny to watch her try to roll over while stuck up against an object. Now she's mastered rolling the other way too. There is no stopping her now.



Yes, she loves hanging out in just her diaper. Well, she'd love to hang out naked but I'm not that brave!

Valentine's Day

My Valentine's started on Saturday this year. I walked into the kitchen Saturday afternoon and found the most beautiful bouquet of flowers.



Saturday night we went to dinner at The Family Tree in Santaquin and then went and saw the movie 'Valentine's Day'. Despite what the critics have said about the movie we really enjoyed it. It was actually quite funny. It was really nice to get a night out without the kids.

Sunday morning I made the kids pink, heart-shaped pancakes. They were so excited to see and eat them.





Jim doesn't like pancakes so I surprised him by using the cookie cutter to make heart impressions in his bread for toast. I snuck the bread back into the bread bag so he didn't even know it was done until he toasted it and spread on the butter. Okay, so he wasn't as excited about it as I was, but at least I made an attempt.



The picture isn't the greatest but I tried.

For dinner I decided to do a special, fancy dinner for the family. It was a fun dinner with the family.



We had a really nice Valentine's Day! Hope you all did too!

Why You Don't Leave Ally Alone with Scissors

This happened back at Christmas but it was such a small hole I didn't think about blogging about it. Until the other day when Ally came and got me to change the sheet on her bed because there was a huge hole in it. I really couldn't believe it when I walked in her room and found this...



If you look closely at the picture you will also see a few holes in the bed guard also. She had a fun time with the scissors that day. I kept telling myself at least it wasn't her hair, and it could have been worse. Now, she is only allowed to use the scissors while being supervised.

Vanessa is Six Months Old

Well, my baby is officially six months old. I can't believe how quickly time flies. Vanessa is such a fun baby! I can't even describe how much I love that little girl. She is extremely loved by everyone in our family. Our lives are so blessed having her as part of our family. It's so fun to watch her grow and try and enjoy new things. She is really starting to enjoy her food. She does not like cereal but really enjoys fruit and vegetables. We went to the doctor on Friday and she weighs 18 lbs. and is 27 in. long. She is growing as she is supposed to and everything is healthy. Made me very happy to hear that news. She is a very fun and happy baby. I am so grateful that I have been blessed with this angel.

Where's Vanessa? Our Family's Version of Where's Waldo

This morning Andrew was entertaining Vanessa and decided she would love to be surrounded by stuffed animals. It cracked me up to see her laying in the middle of all of them. It reminded me of ET when he hiding in all the stuffed animals. Andrew said it was a protective wall so nobody could attack her. That kid's imagination.

Our Cute Valentine

Yesterday was Ally's Valentine's party at preschool. She told me the night before that she had to be 'cute' for her party so after her bath we put 'a million' tiny braids in her hair so it could be 'curly' for her party. She said she looked like she had a bunch of snakes in her hair. The next morning we took out the braids, got her dressed (yes, she had to wear a skirt) and put a headband in her hair. When we picked up her friend Olivia Ally made sure she knew how cute and pretty she looked but then informed Olivia that she looked really cute for the party too. Ally is definitely her own self. I love it!! As soon as she got home she made sure I took some pictures of how cute she looked.







And yes, she came up with the poses herself.

What a Day!

Yesterday was quite the adventure. Andrew had a dentist appointment first thing in the morning. It was supposed to be very simple and easy. Just some sealant on his back molars and insert a spacer. Simple and easy, right?? WRONG!!!! He saw the 'tools' they were going to use to put the sealant on his teeth and freaked. He thought he was getting a shot. It took two hygienists, me, the dentist, movies, many bribes and over an hour to get the work done. I felt like I had gotten my workout for the day. I was sweating by the time we left. The good news, he doesn't have to go back until August for a cleaning. Woohoo!!!

After preschool Ally decided she wanted to go play at her friend Olivia's house. I told her that was fine so off she went. Olivia lives two houses down from us so I don't have a problem with her running over there. I was getting Vanessa down for her nap when I heard the screaming. Ally has a scream for crying when she is hurt so I knew by the way she was crying, it was bad. I quickly put Vanessa and ran to the door. Ally said she slipped and fell on Olivia's driveway. I asked her where she hurt and she automatically grabbed the back of her head. When I reached back and felt I found a large bump. She finally calmed down and decided to play with her friends. After about 15 minutes of playing she came and told me she didn't want play anymore. If you know Ally you know she is not like that. She would play with her friends all day and night if I let her. I put her in my room with a movie. I decided to go check on her after a bit 'cause she was being so quiet and found her curled up in my bed fast asleep. After texts back and forth with Jim I decided to call the doctor's office and see what they said. They told me to bring her right in. Can I just say how much I LOVE my pediatrician's office?? They are amazing!! They were booked through the end of the day but told me to come in and they would fit her in. This is the second time they have done this for me. When Vanessa had her ear infection right before Christmas they stayed after hours to see her. The doctor checked her and low and behold, she had a concussion. This is the second one she has had in her short five years of life. Luckily there was no bleeding or anything like that. At bedtime she was still complaining about her head hurting but she thankfully slept well last night and woke up feeling fine this morning. I am so thankful she is okay and it wasn't too bad.

Some Fun Pics

We haven't had too many fun things happening around our house lately, just the day to day happenings. I have gotten a few cute pics of Vanessa over the last little bit so I thought I'd just post those really quick.

I love this picture of Andrew and Vanessa. Especially since she is sticking her tongue out. Too funny!!



Andrew put his hat on Vanessa the other day and thought it was hilarious!



The other night Vanessa was being a little pill and just wanted to be held. She was fed, had on a clean diaper but just didn't want to be put down. I was busy trying to get dinner made so I let her fuss. It got quiet so I went to check on her and found this....



The poor thing finally wore herself out. Oh, and Ally was the kind sister who attempted to give Vanessa a pillow to prop up a little.