Photo Challenge Day 9- Today

I woke up with visions of grandeur for how today was going to be a perfect, fun day that I could photograph from beginning to end and post about how wonderful our day was. As any mother of small children knows, those days are few and far between and today was not destined to be. SO, we take what we are given and move forward. We had plans for a play date at my friend Holly's house and so we (more slowly that usual) all got dressed and ready and go the bag packed and went to load up in the car. And I opened the door and the light didn't come on, I knew this was not good! So I do a little further investigating and my battery is totally DEAD! Luckily, we have two vehicles that we own and then Michael has a work vehicle that they provide for him. This meant I had another vehicle to put the kids in and still go about my day. Unfortunately, we just have two car seats so this meant me moving them both by myself to the truck. So, I got the car seats moved and got the kids buckled and then had to go back to shake out the mats we keep under their seats. I have never been so embarrassed/disgusted as I was seeing what all was hiding under there, and because I blog, of course I took a quick picture to share with you all!

We make it, later than I planned, to Holly's house to play with our friends. I only get my camera out to take a few cute pics of Rachel playing in the cabinet and at least I got Sam (and Hannah's arm) in this one...

 This one is my favorite and I can't believe how big she looks!

Since I have Bible study tonight, I am going to sit here for a few more minutes of nap time and play on the computer and hope that I magically get some motivation to go clean my house. (As a side note, I just found out that more people I love have blogs, and I have added them to my sidebar for you to check out!)

Photo Challenge Day 8- Favorite Photo

Guess I have to limit myself to just one picture on this one! This picture hangs in my hallway and every time I see it I almost want to cry! I love how sweet Hannah is leaning in to kiss her little sister. I love how Rachel is just chilling relaxing while her sister holds her (with Dad's help). I love the bond between them that continues to grow...

This picture also makes me sad because Rachel is now wearing this outfit Hannah has on...

The last few days...

On Friday Rachel started running a fever and feeling terrible. She was showing no other symptoms, so I just worked on keeping her temps down and spent lots of time looking at this sad pitiful face:

 And listening to her cry and whine "hold me":

And being used as a human pillow (yes I love the extra snuggle time, but it makes it hard to do anything else, like spend time with her sister, clean the house, etc):

But today, she is finally starting to feel better and want to play! :) So what is a mom to do, but break out one of my cheap (and easy to clean) self entertainment weapons-SHAVING CREAM! I was able to supervise them while getting my house put back together and they thought it was lots of fun. This is one of Hannah's favorite activities and it was Rachel's first time to get to play in it too.

I think they both loved it and I loved getting my house put back together! And, just a side note, I saw two new teeth in her mouth today, so I am assuming they are the cause of her misery.

Photo Challenge Day 7- A photo I have never shown before

I was looking through albums trying to find pictures for some previous posts and came across a "photo shoot" that I did with Rachel one day when I realized she was about to outgrow two outfits that I loved! I looked back on the blog and realized I never posted any of these pictures. I used to do home "photo shoots" with Hannah all the time because it was easy! Anytime she had on a cute outfit or we didn't have anything else to do, I took pictures of her just for fun. I took time to put her on or in front of something as a backdrop and we just had fun (examples here, here -scroll down toward the bottom-and here). With two kids, that went out the window for the most part and I just started taking them to JCPenney. Lucikly, this was one of the times that I just made it happen! Here is a picture from Hannah's "photo shoot" and I had help from two other people:

And these, I took by myself while keeping Hannah away from her sister. I love that Rachel has these outfits filled out and they hung off of Hannah. I hate that Rachel refused from the beginning to keep cute bows on her head because I love the big bows!

These are Rachel:

And this one is of Hannah in the same outfit:

Photo Challenge Day 6- Theme Green

Apparently I like to wear green! For my birthday this year Yolonda paid to have my colors done and I loved it! It is amazing how I was already wearing some of my colors and also how much of what I was wearing was wrong (hello my entire black wardrobe...sigh). Luckily for me, green is one of my "best" colors. Here are some pics of me in green with some of my favorite people:

Easter 2009, pregnant with Rachel

September 2009, Rachel's first week

Me and one of my best friends, Cindi showing our bumps (her pregnant with Cole and me Rachel, due 2 weeks apart), March 2009

Me with my best friends since we were three, Sharla and Starla, when they came to visit in California to meet Rachel in November 2009

I'm sure Theme Green was probably meant as a recycling/go-green type thing, but frankly, I prefer fashion! :)

Photo Challenge Day 5- Old Picture

I'm probably not following the correct rules of this photo challenge because it is probably just supposed to be one photo with a brief description. However, its my blog and I can do it however I want! I want these challenges to just be themes for my posts rather than just showcase one photo. It also gives me a chance to share some things about my family that I wouldn't have thought to share otherwise. This "old picture" challenge, I'm taking some liberties on! These are some old pictures...of my little sister and the only reason I'm sharing them is to show how much Rachel looks like Kristen! The first two are Kristen, the second two are Rachel. Tell me I'm not the only one that thinks they could be twins??

I have to add, the funniest part, is that they act ALOT alike too! Kristen is obsessed with teeth and Rachel is too, she cries when I take her toothbrush away and asks to brush her teeth every time we are in the bathroom. Kristen used to sing and talk herself to sleep as a kid and so does Rachel. They both love the water, animals, and playing dress up, the list just goes on and on....

Photo Challenge Day 4- Hobby

My hobby is scrapbooking! I have been scrapbooking since I graduated high school and don't spend as much time as I would like doing it, but with two small kids, I work on it when I can. All of these pics are taken with my iPhone because I currently don't have a working camera, so quality is not so great (in case you haven't noticed from my last few posts). Sadly I haven't scrapbooked for myself since Hannah was born so I only have older albums to show you, but here are just a few examples of how I scrapbook. I don't have a specific style or "look" like some friends I have, but I just do whatever strikes me at the time. This first one is one of the first pages I did, before I knew about archival quality paper, pens, glue, etc. As you can see it has already started fading (12 years later).

These next few are from trips home the first year after we moved away to Utah. I went home for Kristen's prom:

Carla's wedding:

And of course just a few fun moments also get scrapbooked along the way!

Then I have some from when Michael's mom came to visit and we went to the zoo:

And these are from our Christmas card photo shoot:

 Maybe I will start getting caught up this year and share some more current pages as I get them done!

Photo Challenge Day 3- Family Member(s)

I have always known that I am indecisive and anyone who knows me can vouch for that! I can do the bigger decisions with minimal issue, but little stuff (like what to wear, where to eat, what picture to choose for this challenge) I go back and forth and it takes me forever. Since I am slightly OCD, I have already been looking ahead and deciding what pictures or memories to share in other posts so I eliminated my husband and children since they will be featured alot! I thought about grandparents, but those posts will make me (and some others who read my blog) cry and I don't want that either. So, I have decided instead of picking just one family member, I would pick my parents! This pic was taken last weekend at my little sister's wedding and is the most current picture I have of all of us together:

I am totally blessed to have such an amazing family. My dad is a strong amazing Christian man that loves his family. He has always made a point to be there for any important event in our lives- dance recitals, football games, church programs, weddings, baby's births, etc. He is very logical and loves to help us work through our issues and come to our own decisions. He is there when you ask for advice, need a sounding board, or just for a hug when you need one. He is totally baby crazy and all kids are drawn to him like a magnet! I feel very lucky that he is an amazing example of what a husband/father should look like and a great role model for my husband and children.

My mom and I are very close. We think alot alike on pretty much everything and I really look up to her and rely on her for lots of parenting advice. She is a great example of a mom that was/is willing to do whatever it takes for her kids. She tried to stay home as much as she could and made sure that the jobs she had allowed for her to be there for us. She was willing to sacrifice having the "best" stuff so that she could be there. I can only hope I am half the mom she is. She has also managed to survive raising four kids and still looks like she is only 35, I am really hoping that I got that gene!

I am thankful for parents that made sure we were raised in church, taught us modesty, values, and respect and love for others. They took us on vacations to lots of fun places and managed to sneak in some educational stops and activities along the way. I have seen lots of things that most people haven't because they cared enough for us to "see history" for ourselves. Most of these trips were not luxurious vacations spent flying first class and staying in 5-star hotels, they were all of us piled in the car, pulling our camping trailer, staying at campsites and cooking our own food. Not only was this a much more fun "bonding experience" for our family (and the families that we traveled with), but it taught us traveling on a budget and that fun is what you make it! They also taught me that honesty is the best policy, just because your friends are doing it doesn't make it right, and that in all things I am accountable to God, not them, for my actions. I don't think I realized how blessed I was to have parents that are still happily married and gave us an idealistic childhood until I got out of high school and realized that what we have isn't the norm, but instead an amazing testimony to what having God the center of your family can look like. Thanks Mom and Dad, I love you!

Photo Challenge Day 2- Favorite Thing

I admit that picking something for my favorite thing was harder than I thought. Since it is a "thing" instead of a person, I struggled. I don't think that I am overly attached to many "things" in my life because I know that they could all be gone in an instant and most things can be replaced. I love my pictures because they are visual reminders of memories and so I scrapbook, I love my coffee maker because it makes mornings a little happier, but they aren't my favorite thing. I decided to go with something that there is some emotional attachment to that can't be as easily replaced- my wedding ring!

I love that when I got this ring it was just the gold part of the band and a smaller diamond. For the wedding we added the white gold part as the wedding band and Michael upgraded my diamond as a surprise. It was a super sweet surprise and I love my ring, just the way it is! :)

30 Day Photo Challenge- Day 1

I have been seeing lots of fun 30 day challenges on facebook and other people's blogs and decided to try one. I am hoping that it will help me to get in the habit of posting more often/consistently and be a fun, exciting new way to share about our life. I chose to do this 30 day challenge because it was less intimidating than some of the others! :)

Day 1: Self Portrait- I will be honest, I stink at self portraits, but I recently took one that I am happy to share! This was taken for Katie (my little brother's girlfriend) after she fixed my hair for my little sister's wedding. She did a great job and my hair actually held curl ALL day for the first time ever!

Anniversary Fun

For our anniversary, I was very spoiled! I got these roses:And a Cricut machine with 5 cartridges! I have been wanting one of these for about three years, but just couldn't justify spending the money and luckily, they were on sale so Michael spent what he planned on spending on extra cartridges! :) Then, we are truly blessed that Yolonda and Glenn were willing to spend the night at our house with the girls so we could get away and spend the night at a hotel downtown. I have never spent a night away from Rachel and the only time I have ever spent the night away from Hannah was when I was in the hospital having Rachel, so this was a BIG deal for us! Here we are before we left the house:We stayed at the Hotel Monaco and it was really pretty. This is what you see when you walk in the door and I love it. If I could have this in my house (without it looking ridiculously over the top), I totally would!This is our room (Michael always opens the curtains to check out the view no matter where we stay)!Padded leather headboard and foot bench:Desk/bathroom door:Champagne chilling on the desk (it was not my favorite):And this is us at dinner-PF Changs:

I didn't think to take any pics the next morning of our breakfast in bed or us when we went to Massage Envy, but it was truly a fantastic time away and something we will hopefully do again sometime!