Christmas Bums

We had our first family Christmas at home this year.  It was great to have my dad here.  I am horrible and didn't take any pictures of Christmas, but Nick got some great video.  Here are Sydney and Sawyer on Christmas Eve, in their new jammies.  They are so stinking cute.  Don't mind Sawyer's snot nose, we are recovering from colds that we got in Utah.

A few house pics.

This is the formal living room when we bought the house.  The walls were a stark white and the trim is, well hideous.

We painted the walls Titanium and the trim a bright white.  I got these wonderful IKEA frames for my birthday and finally got some pics in them.  Don't mind the couches, we are going to get rid of them.  I thought I would slip cover them, but there is no padding left.

Remember this lovely brass fixture, and the brown record player?

Add a little orange spray paint and I can handle it.

I painted the record player a lovely marigold by Sherwin Williams and made these wreaths and I now have a blue vase and I love my entry way.

Remember the 8 by 8 hunter green tile and white laminate countertops?

Now we have lovely 3 by 6 white subway tile and beautiful brown concrete countertops.  I love them.

Some Pictures

I'm just realizing it's been a while since I've posted some pictures. These are some from our trip to Utah and such. I will be posting some pictures of recent finished projects around the house. I don't think I'm ever going to have a decorated house. Maybe by the time we move. Anyway, here are some cute ones of the kids. They are getting so big and Sydney is so excited about Christmas. She's excited to see Papa and have Santa come to the house. We are excited to have my dad come for Christmas. He'll be the first of our immediate family to see the new pad. Here you go and if I don't post before, we wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!

Laughing hard

Sydney is so so funny to me. I love her so much and think that she gets more funny by the day. She is getting so smart and it just adds to her goofiness. Yesterday she was riding in the car with Nick and they were listening to a classic rock station. When they stopped to get out of the car Sydney says to Nick, "Thanks for the ride Nick I really enjoyed it." She is a hoot. She thinks she is so big and grown up.

Today we asked her what Santa was going to bring her and she said, "a Cheerleader. (cheerleading uniform)." She has been so set on him bringing her this. I've been searching high and low for a good one. I said, "Santa better come through." She looked at me and raised her eyebrows and pointed at me and said, "he will, or I'll tickle him under his white beard." Santa if you're listening, please make good on this.

So Funny

Here is a quick funny that Sydney did at the viewing for Grandpa Staples. We had a cousin meeting where all of the grandkids shared memories they had of Grandpa. I got up to share, and started crying (of course), and Sydney pulled out her play cell phone, flipped it open, and says, "So, my mom's crying." She does this face with it that made everyone crack up. She is such a goof head. I love her to pieces. She has been a little angel on this trip so far, so hopefully she will continue to be one since Nick has gone home.

Sawyer Five Months

Sawyer turned five months old on the 1st of December. He is such a sweet baby. Here are a few things he likes to do... Roll over from stomach to back. In fact before you can completely get him on his stomach he is lifting his giant head to roll him back over. When he gets rolled over he lays there like it was the hardest thing he had to do. He loves to smile. I can look at him just about anytime, and he will break into a giant smile. He likes to giggle, but only for certain people and at certain times. I think I can get him to giggle more than anyone. He screams like a little girl. It is so funny because Sydney growled like a lion from the time she was 2 months old and sounded like a monster and Sawyer screams like a girl. It is too funny. Sawyer loves his feet. He tries to grab them all the time, but can't get them unless his pants are off. Yeah, he's fat, but it's so cute. He loves the bath tub. He splashes and splashes, and then he'll flex his muscles and do his typical face (see previous post titled Little Lovely's). He is so cute. He is such a joy to have and I love him more and more each day. He has the sweetest personality and is such a good sleeper although he is still not sleeping through the night. He wakes up once still. He puts himself down for all naps and nights, and it is such a nice change from having to rock Sydney completely to sleep and then have her want to sleep with us every night. We are still battling that. I love my kids so much and I love being a mom. It's the greatest joy I've known.

On a Sydney note, she has been so good since we've been in Utah. I am hoping this is a new leaf that she has turned over. She is getting so big and grown up. She loves to pretend, copy everything I do, and dance, sing, play the piano. She is such a good big sister when she isn't trying to climb in Sawyer's carseat with him. We love her so much and enjoy having her fun crazy personality in our home.

I'll post some pictures of Sawyer at a later date, but just know he is so cute.

Grandpa Staples

Early this morning, Nick's Grandpa Staples passed away. He has been extremely unhealthy for the past two years, and it's not really a shock to any of us that he passed away. He held on a lot longer than most of us thought. He went peacefully and loved by all of his family. We will miss him terribly, but have a lot of sweet memories of him. Some of my favorite memories include: Right after Nick and I got married we moved to North Dakota, and went to say goodbye to his grandpa and grandma and we sat around their kitchen table while they sang a song about the "red river valley" to us. Such a sweet memory to me. Another sweet memory I have is when we went home for Christmas this last year we were able to get some pictures of him and Sydney together. I am so thankful that she got to know her great grandpa. I never had to opportunity and I think that it is such a sweet thing to know and love grandparents. All day today she has been asking me about Grandpa, and it has been fun to tell her about him and see her love for him. Another funny memory is when Nick and I were being sealed, we kept seeing grandpa peeking out the window of the temple. It was funny in the moment. Our last memory of him is when we went home in September to bless Sawyer and we stopped by the care center that he lived in to say hello and visit for a minute. We walked into the dining room and his eyes absolutely lit up when he saw Nick. I think that they had a special reltaionship, and I know Nick is going to miss him dearly. We are so thankful for the gospel in our lives and the peace it brings to us, knowing that we will see him again. We are so happy that he is resting, and is feeling a lot better than he was. We love and miss you dearly.

A Funny

If any of you know my Sydney she makes these faces when answering a question, or when she has noticed something that she is really exctied about. Her eyes get really wide and she looks at you like, "Why are you even asking that or how could you not have noticed?" Always makes me feel a little dumb. Anyway, tonight she is sleeping on the couch waiting for me to take her to her bed and Nick walked in the door. She kind of woke up and heard him getting some water. She got the look on her face, and then laid back down. Then she proceeds to tell me, "mom, I want to be a dog." Mind you she is asleep, but still so funny. This girl is so crazy all the time. I can only imagine what kind of dreams she has. Here are some more Sydney's

Looking at Nick with her typical face she says, "Dad stop sassing me."

Her favorite movie is Mamma Mia and her favorite song is Don't go Wasting your Emotion. In the movie there is a part where Sophie crawls toward Skye on the beach, well Sydney decided to sing the song and crawl towards Nick seductively. I think its about we only listen to sound tracks and stop letting her watch the movies. I thought it was funny, but then again she is three.

About all I can think of today. I'm so bad at writing them down, because she will do it when I'm otherwise engaged and I always forget them. I'm going to get better. She has become super obsessed with looking at herself in the mirror, and I know my family would say like mother like daughter, but she is so so much worse.

Some little lovely's

I was looking through pictures because Nick is at work late tonight and I'm bored. This is a typical Sawyer face. He is the cutest little bug ever.

4 Months! What?

Sawyer turned 4 months old on the 1st, and all I can say is what? He is growing up so quickly and is the cutest little nice boy I've ever met. He is such a joy. He is such an easy baby. We know exactly what is wrong with him when he cries. Poop, hungry, tired. It's that simple. He is such a sweet baby. He loves me so much and it melts my heart every day. If I'm being completely honest, I wasn't the most happy when I found out we were having a boy. I didn't know what to do with them, and quite frankly little boys around 7 or 8 annoy the crap out of me. Now that we hae Sawyer I can't belive how stupid I was to think that. He is so wonderful. It's so funny to me that our friends see him and say, "he looks just like Nick. It's kind of weird to kiss him and then look at him and think that we are kissing a little Nick." I laugh. Sometimes I see Nick and sometimes he looks just like a chubby version of Sydney. We took him for his 4 month wcc, and he is currently 15lbs 3oz (50%), 24 inches long (25%), and his head is 17 inches around (75%). I feel like he weighs so much more than that, but it must just be because he is so stinking short. He has the chubbiest thighs, and cheeks, but the most beautiful blue eyes, and such a cute smile. Some of his favorite things to do are, stare cross-eyed at his hands clasped together, hang on to his right foot and suck on his left hand, giggle, cuddle, and smile. He is truly a joy in our lives, and I know that he loves me so much, and that is nice when Sydney doesn't love me. On a Sydney note, she has said some funny things lately. Here are a few I can remember. I can't remember the most funny one, and it makes me so mad.

On halloween night she ran down from a door after receiving candy and yelled, "I love Happy Halloween."

When not wanting to clean up a mess she has made she will frequently say, "Mom, I can't do it. I'm too small that is a mommy job, not a Sydney job."

When going to school she will tell me ahead of time whether or not she is going to cry that day at school. Usually she is right on.

These aren't nearly all the funny ones, but my mind can't remember any of the funnies. I will definitely have to start writing them down. She's a cheese head.

Recent Happenings

We have kind of been off the map for a while due to moving into our home. It is so wonderful being in a home. We are going to start painting this weekend, redoing our awful backsplash, our cabinets, and some furniture. I know we are crazy to start all of this craziness, but we're excited to get it looking like us. We have also been getting ready for Halloween. We had a trunk-or-treat at our church, but it got rained out. Regardless of the rain it was fun to get the babies all dressed up in their cute costumes. We also went to a pumpkin patch a few weeks ago, it was lame, and expensive, but Sydney had fun. Let me vent for a minute about Houston. There is absolutely nothing for kids to do here, unless you live by the Children's museum, or the zoo, which we don't. That's about all there is for kids to do. Nick and I have talked about how kid friendly Utah is and wish that other places were like that. Anyway there is my vent, I'm over it. The weather has finally started cooling off although it has been so stupidly humid. Well here are pics.

Cute kiddos

Okay we have been gone to Utah for a long time and I just got back and have some super cute pictures of my super cute babes. Sawyer turned 3 months on the first and is getting so big and so cute. He is talking all the time and smiling. He is the sweetest creature on the planet. He has such a cute personality and loves to cuddle with me. He melts my heart everyday. Sydney on the other hand has been such a little monster. Most days we are battling and most days she wins those battles. I am at a loss on how to discipline this child. She is the cutest, most devilish little imp I know. I really need super nanny! Anyway here are some cute pictures, and Sydney is looking so innocent. It's all a front!!!

A House?!?

Hopefully this will be our house by November 1. There are some changes to be made, but I am so excited that this could be our home very soon. Wish us luck.