Life is full of sunshine and giggles!!!

Its been awhile since my last post on here- life is just so very busy right now. Its hard to find time to post on here and when I do have time I forget!

Our lives continue to be busy with raising our sweet little girls God has blessed us with. They are constantly a source of sunshine and unending love in our lives and the lives of those around us. Mckayla is growing up into a very smart little girl. She is always doing something. She just started kindergarten two weeks ago and is loving it. She does not always want to go to school every day......as she enjoys lazy days around home. But she is adjusting and seems to always be happy when I come and pick her up. She is doing amazing on her handwriting and learning new things all the time. She also continues to take a gym class, which her Grammy (my mom) takes her to every Monday. She will also soon be taking a tennis class, which I think she will love. She was given a tennis raquet from my mum for her birthday back in June and loves to hit balls around with my mum at her house when we visit on Wednesdays. Isabelle is also growing up and changing so much. She has started two mornings a week of preschool and is adjusting. She cries when I drop her off but the teachers say she does fine after a few minutes but does want to be held a lot. She cries when I drop her off at church too. She is talking up a storm and says some of the funniest things! The girls really like the movie "Frozen" and one day during dinner Isabelle looked at me and asked "Mommy, do you want to build a snowman?" Then she started saying it in a silly voice. Well I looked at her and told her that we cannot build a snowman as there is no snow here. James informed her though "we could build a sandman." She looked at him and was obviously pondering this and then replied "Daddy......that would be cwazzzzzzy!" We all giggled. She also asked James one day in a very serious tone "What do belly buttons eat?" Needless to say this Izzy keeps us laughing! If you ever need a good laugh just come spend a day with us! Izzy has also now began going to a parent/child gym class with her Grammy on Wednesday mornings, which she loves. They all sorts of things, climbing, jumping, sliding among other things. She loves it!

I am currently only working two hours a week as a pediatric occupational therapist as James and I really feel that being home with the girls when they are so young is very important and we are able to do this. I have two clients and I really like the families I work with. The company is great too! James is still working where he has been since before I met him years ago.

This summer we were able to go on two vacations. Our first was in May with my mum, her boyfriend Marshall, my sister Heather and her husband Brent to Sedona. This is a lovely place with moutainous red rock and very calm and peaceful. While there we stayed in a resort and just relaxed, swam, and hung out.

Then in mid August we took a trip to San Diego, CA with my dad, step-mom, step-sisters and their husbands (and one of them has a little boy) and my sister and husband. We all enjoyed our time there but the girls especially loved spending time with their 2 year old cousin Parker (my step-sister Missy's little boy- currently the girls only cousin). We had a condo where we could see the beach from our patio and could walk there within 2 minutes. We could also walk to the bay within 5 minutes as well. So very close to the water and lots of fun. We enjoyed just hanging out, playing on the beach, building sand castles, James boogie boarded, and we explored a bit and even enjoyed 2 rides on a surrey. A surrey is like a cross between a bike and a golf cart. The one we went on fit two adults and two small kids- so was just right for us. James and I both peddled, like as on a bike. James steered with a steering wheel and was in charge of the brakes too. And the girls, well they just got to relax and enjoy the ride.

Here are a few more of the trip to San Diego.....

Anyway for now I think thats it- I have more to share but should get working on some things that need to get done while Isabelle is at preschool this morning.

Silly little girls!!!

Our time flies when you are having fun! Our days are filled with joy and lots of entertainment from our girls. They are constantly making us giggle and always saying something funny! Izzy recently decided she is a cat. She is constantly seen crawling around on the floor, meowing, and pawing at people. Mckayla at times will join in the game....they will crawl up to our dog, meow, sometimes say "dog" and then let out a kitty squeel and then crawl off to hid.....because as we all know, cats are scraed of dogs!! Sometimes when we ask Isabelle questions she will answer with a "meow" which is left to interpretation. Does a "meow" mean yes or no. It can be different every hour!

We have recently been busy planbning, organizing and finalizing a benefit yard sale for my best friend. We are trying ti do various fundraiser to help raise money that they can put toward Jen's medical bills. She has a number of chronic illness, but they are still working on a more specific diagnosis. This took a lot of time to organize etc but it was lovely weather and nice being outside for 6-10hours doing the yard sale. We had three days of it- two days one weekend and one day another weekend. We have also done a bracelet sale as well. There is also a website where people can donate if they chose to. Here is the website iof anyone wants to help out......http://www.gofundme.com/helpingjen

Our family has just been dealing with another round of illnesses. Isabelle came down with pink eye. When I took her to the dr, we found out she also had a terrible ear infection and bronchitis. Then two days later I also had bronchitis. We are both taking our time to get better. Izzy's pink eye is gone but both of us are still coughing a lot and we don't know how Izzy's ear is doing, as she never cpomplained or acted like it hurt. James also has had a cough- not a real bad one, but he has had it a bit. Mckayla though, seems to have kept it away.

We are looking forward to a weekend away in May with my mum, her boyfriend Marshall and my sister Heather and her husband Brent at a resort in Sedona. It will be a nice quiet weekend getaway and it will be a little cooler up there than in the Phoenix area. Hopefully it will be relaxing.

We are starting to get ready for Little Miss Isabelle's 2nd birhday. This Friday she turns 2. One her birthday this year- its actually Good Friday and we will be going to a easter egg hunt for the mom's group we are a part of. We will also celebrate as a family with cupcakes that evening. Her birthday party will be the following weekend (Easter is that weekend so we will wait a week) with family and a few friends. We are doing a zoo animal themed party for her this year. We may also take a family outing somewhere to celebate her birthday as well.

A difficult new year!

Ok so once again I have failed miserably at keeping up on our family blog.....it seems time goes by so quickly with each passing year and the girls sure do keep me busy!!

So we had a lovely Christmas and everything around here is going alright. It was a hard couple months but I think things are quietening down now. We just got hit with one thing after another and it was pretty rough.

January 14th (I think this date is right) James' very beloved grandmother whom we all called "Oma" had a massive stroke and was not found until the next day. They believe it happened over night but she was not found until about 4 or 5 pm that day. She was unable to eat/drink or talk. She could not move her right side of her body, but seemed to comprehend all that was going on. She would squueze a hand to anser yes or no questions and at one point would even nod. She was in the hospital for several days but it became obvious she was not going to recover and she had made it very clear she did not want any heroics performed to keep her here on earth. No feeding tubes, had a DNR etc. So she was moved to hospice. Not long after on January 22nd Oma went to be with Jesus in Heaven. She left such a legacy of serving others and encouraging others everywhere she went. She shared the love of Jesus every day, whether it was through word or actions. She has left behind so many people who loved her dearly and she will be forever missed until we see her again in Heaven one day!

Several days after Oma's stroke, we founbd out we would be putting Zephyr, the dog my Mum gave me during highschool  (who had been living with Mum) down. He was getting slower and decling medically. He could not hear well and was having issues with his hips and seemed to be hurting. Mum had been giving him high doses of pain meds and anti-inflammatory meds for quite awhile and there was not much else that could be done. It got to the point where he could no longer get himself  up from a laying down position and my mum and Marshall had to lift him to get him up. They decided that on Friday Mum would take him to the vet and have him board there while Mum was at work and overnight Friday and Saturday I ould meet her there to say my goodbyes before he got put down. Well when Marshall took him there Friday morning, the vet did not think it should wait til Saturday because he did not think he would make it through the night and there was no veterinary staff there overnight to help him if he needed something. So we went Friday night to say goodbye and put him down. When I went in they explained to me what would happen and I was given the option to be in the room or to say goobye and then leave the room before they put him down. I knew emotionally I would not be able to handle being there when he was put down. So Mum and I said our goodbyes. When they brought him in a vet tech was carrying him, as he could no longer walk. It was very obvious this was not the happy Zephyr, even from just a few years ago....this was the Zephyr who was very unwell and very very old. He never would have let someone carry him like that, let alone a vet tech. When he was young - he had to be muzzled at the vet so he would not bite them and still once he was able to get it off and give the vet or tech a warning nip. We said our goodbyes and this was probably one of the hardest things, if not the hardest thing I have ever had to do. He was such a loyal and faithful companion and saw me through so much of lifes ups and downs- and he will be forever missed.

Five days later Oma passed away Jan 22nd.

Then in Febraury we all got the stomach flu- kind of staggered in timing, one after another and all with varying symptoms. Well just as I was getting over the stomach flu I began coughing, which then developed into bronchitis and a sinus infection. I am finally beginning to get better, with two rounds of antibiotics back to back and using my nebulizer regularly. Meanwhile Mckayla and James both got sick again with stomach issues but luckily I did not get it again and we don;t know if Izzy did really. Her stomach is always a bit sensitive so sometimes its hard to know what causes what.

Anyway we are all much better and getting back into the regular swing of a healhy happy life again and we are praying there will be no more sickness and no more sad or difficult news. Perhaps we just got all the bad stuff/difficult times done for the year. We can only hope, right?

Below are some photos of our sweet Mckayla and Isabelle- who truly bring so much suinshine and joy to us on a daily basis. We love being their parents. (More updates on the girls to come soon- got to goto bed now!)

Finally cooling down!!!

Oh the weather is beautiful out lately! Finally cooling off after the constant summer heat. Sure its not cooled off that much but way better than it had been. Its finally in the 80's and tomorrow the high is going to be 73deg F and for here that is really nice. We are finally starting to enjoy spending some time outside again. The girls have been enjoying their playhouse and we have just bought a bike for me and a bike trailer for the girls and cannot wait to start using them soon!

Our family is just about through a 3 week bout of everyone taking turns being sick. First Mckayla got sick (lots of classmates were too and we think she gave it to all of us at home!). She had a cold/fever/cough. Then Izzy got it with a cold, then cough and fever. Then I got it with just a nasty cough which of course went to bronchitis as it does anytime I get respiratory bugs. So I am finishing up my 10 days of antibiotics today and still coughing but definitely doing better. Izzy had it pretty bad too and had to even have a chest x-ray. She was so congested the dr could not be sure she was not missing any pneumonia in there- but thankfully she was right and it was just a virus (but apparently a bad one as it showed on the x-ray and most viruses don't show up like that).

Izzy has been continuing to grow and change all the time. She just loves life and loves to chatter away and loves to run up to people with arms open huge and give the sweetest hugs! She will try to say just about anything you ask her to, even if it does not come out quite right. Mckayla continues to love school, loves gym class and just loves to sing and dance and have loads of fun!I love watching the girls relationshiop continue to change. Izzy really looks up to Mckayla and Mckayla likes to watch out for Izzy and help her, but obviously some disagreements, especially over toys, does occur at times. But overall they are best friends and love to play together.

Hailey (the dog) continues to be a goofy energetic dog as always. She is great with the girls. She does not typically get into too much mischief- but can often be found sleeping with our shoes. She does not chew them, just takes a nap with them. If you are missing a shoe- just check Hailey's bed! She also likes to pull toy bins down for the shelf when we are not home- but again rarely is anything ever destroyed! We really are lucky that she does not destroy things. She loves it when we are outside in the backyard but sometimes she has to be locked in the house as she has these crazy spurts of energy and will charge around the backyard and if you move and get in her way she may run into you and that would not be good. If you stand still when she goes nuts she won't run into you -but if you move she might- and Mckayla has learned to hold still or go in her playhouse when Hailey goes on a running spurt. Izzy, however has not learned that yet, so if Izzy is outside Hailey usually has to be locked in the house. If we lock her inside she can often be heard howling in the house!
     Anyway thats all the news for now. Check out some recent photos below!!

Girls in the new bike trailer

                                                     Fun in their playhouse

                                            Working on feeding herself with a spoon

                                                       Sweet sleeping Isabelle

                                                  More self-feeding fun!!!

She discovered a cup in her picnic basket works well as a hat for her baby doll

                                           Hard at work on writing at school

                                      Happy Mckayla playing on the school playground

Always a good laugh......

One thing about my life right now is that I can count on getting at least one good laugh each day just by hanging out with my little girls. If you ever feel down and just need a good laugh- come hang out with us for a few hours and you are bound to get at least one good laugh! Mckayla is at an age where she is becoming more and more aware of things and starting to think about things more critically- but still thinks like a 4 year old, so things that come out of her mouth at times can be very amusing. She is very literal- so if James says "I've got to run" when he has finished lunch and is headed back to work...Mckayla will tell him to drive, NOT run there. We, at times, call her "Captain Literal." Izzy, on the other hand, is learning more and more words and trying to say more things. One thing that constantly gets James and I laughing is her new way of saying "please". She used to say "peee" while doing the sign for it. But now she is attempting more but it comes out as "peeeeeboppppp" complete with spitting at the end! James discovered she is saying it like that because she is trying to say the "s" sound but for her right now it comes out as sounding like she is spitting! She is also being real funny right now- she has a thing for Mckayla's baby doll (which is very similar to a couple of Izzy's ones) and will try to grab it whenever she gets the chance. She knows she is not supposed to take it but it just seems that because she knows she is not supposed to - it just makes her want it even more. If you have kids, you know how that is. The more a child knows they are not supposed to do something, the more they are tempted to!


This morning we had our MOPs (mom's group at church) meeting. The girls enjoy themselves in their classes and I enjoy chatting with the other mom's. Today we had a speaker on Body Image. The speaker was the daughter of a mentor mom in our group. Mentor mom's are mother who do not have little one's in the 0-5 age range anymore but they have experience in mothering children of that age and want to share their knowledge and wisdom with newer moms. Well it was the daughter of a mentor mom who had been the mentor mom at my table two different years. She was a great speaker and we all seemed to really enjoy it and had some good discussions at our tables afterwards.

Anyway now its rest/nap time and Izzy is down and Mckayla is resting in her room. So now its time for some "Me time" for this mommy! I am going to go paint a little shelf for Izzy's room and then perhaps do some more in Isabelle's baby book that did not yet get completed.

Summer is ending!

Summer has come to an end, but unfortunately the summer heat has not. Mckayla has begun her 4 year old preschool at the same school she was at last year. She really enjoys it and seems to really learn so much. She also loves to be with kids her own age. She is excited because one of her closest friends from last year is in her class again this year.

Mckayla continues to be a very active, very busy and quite talkative young girl. Her newest thing is playing a lot with her baby doll. She has to wake her baby up and give her breakfast in the morning, feed her and put her down for naps, pretend to give her a bath, read her stories and put her to bed. And baby's grandma and auntie (Mommy and Izzy) are asked to babysit when Mckayla goes to school!! Then when we pick Mckayla up she will ask if her baby took a nap or if baby had a bottle. Sometimes I think my girls are not that much like their mommy, but then I see glimpses of it- when I was little my doll Sue came everywhere with me and I pretended just like Mckayla does! So cute!!

Izzy is growing and learning with leaps and bounds. She is continuing to talk more and more and learning new words all the time. She loves to follow her big sister around and try to play whatever her sister can convince her to participate in. She can be a little stinker at times too though. Izzy likes to have two of everything- one for each hand. She had a small baby doll- similar to one of Mckayla's. Actually Izzy had two little dolls, but they did not match. So she would chase Mckayla around for her doll that matches with one of Izzy's. Well eventually we found another old doll in the toy box that matched Izzy's so she is somewhat happy with that. However, she knows Mckayla does not like it when she grabs her's, so she still attempts to take it when she gets a chance. Actually now, Izzy will spot it laying on the couch and yell "Mine!" and run and grab it. Wonder where she heard that. I also wonder if Mckayla will realize at some point that lots of what Izzy does to her, Mckayla herself has taught her through her own words and actions!!

The mom's group that I am a part of has started up again. It meets two Tuesdays a month at the Gilbert campus of our church. We used to attend the Gilbert campus but recently changed to the Tempe one, as its closer to home. I am a table leader, which means that I organize playdates and mom's nights out for the ladies at my table as well as help facilitate discussions and make people feel welcome. I enjoy being a part of the group- even though parts of being a leader can be frustrating at times.

In August we went on a lovely vacation to San Diego with my dad, step-mom Molly and rest of the family. My dad and Molly rented a condo and we stayed there a week and the rest of the family (my step-sister Patty, step sister Melissa and her husband Jason and little boy Parker, and my sister Heather) came and went as their schedules allowed. We enjoyed going to the zoo, sea world, the beach and some playing on the playground. It was a great trip and we look forward to going again next summer!!

Anyway thats a brief update on our lives right now- just keeping busy!

Below are some photos from our San Diego trip!