remembering today

Today I don't care that I have a muffin top. That muffin top carried two baby girls that I love and adore.

Today I am happy to have a healthy body that can pull those girls along on a bike ride.

Today I feel blessed to see the "popcorn" trees, feel the spring breeze, and hear the birds chirpping.

Today I am letting the little things go, the fingerprints on the glass door, the spills on my kids shirts, the unwashed hair of their mother...

Today I find joy in cooking, baking, and preparing dinner for my family.

Today I am happy picking up toys, loading the dishwasher, switching out the laundry.

Today I smile while I watch my girls play and giggle together. Everyday I get to watch them grow as sisters.

Today I am feeling the spirit.
In my home, in new friends, and in my family.

Today I am living life...
and I love it.

a parade, some pizza, and a toad.

Every week we've been getting to know new friends at playgroup. One of those friends invited us to her previous wards playgroup this past week for a parade. (I am loving playgroups... for reals, it's my saving grace) We brought along Taryn's scooter to decorate and ride around.

By the time everyone showed up, the kids were getting antsy and the wind had picked up.... but we weren't going to let that stop us.

I made sure to stick Taryn in the back of the line.
She's not one for speed.


Here is Taryn with one of her new buddies, Jocelyn. Such a sweet girl!

the line-up

In the meantime, Tenley sat still and quietly doing what she does best... eating.

The next day was Friday. I usually don't make any plans for Friday evening because Robbie's schedule is a little hectic at the moment. I never know what time to expect him home, but I was tired of making dinner, and decided we needed to venture out and eat somewhere new.

I had heard one of the playgroup mom's - a super cool one - mention a fun pizza joint that her kids love. Later, when I was looking through the mail, I came across a coupon for that fun pizza joint. You don't have to give me any more signs... it was decided, we we're out for a night on the town.

I called Robbie and said, "Get your behind home, we're goin' out!!"

Ok, so I don't have that much control, but lucky for us he was almost home and it wasn't even 6!

Loved this place. Cool and classy, yet still kid friendly. They even give the kids some pizza dough to play with and mold into whatever their hearts desire.


this guy was seriously showing off.
He tossed that pizza dough to be so large, it could have fed the entire Duggar family.


So yummmmmmmmy


Me and booga numero uno.


Booga numero dos.


That roll there is Taryn's creation from her pizza dough.
I had the show off guy put it in that big brick oven for a few minutes.


Oh, and I stumbled upon this guy the other night. He was hopping across our sidewalk.

I thought that was a tail.
Nope.

He left that little present behind.

a few more of Taryn's stories....and some interpretive dancing

Taryn's story of "sleeeting udey"

Spring Fever

The weather the past few days here in Sparks has been heavenly!! It's put a spring in my step and an itch in my homemaking bone. The girls and I made a trip over to Michaels craft store and I immediately fell in love with their clearance section full of spring colored goodies.

See for yourself....

and it wouldn't be Easter without these treats.
-the bowl was filled with mini cadbury eggs, but they disappeared in less than a day... I won't name who devoured them, but I think they may have settled in my rear end-

We've been exploring all the different parks around here. So far we really like the one within walking distance.

this one is a different park close by the library...

you know how I feel about kites and things way high up in the air...
this picture makes my stomach jump.


I tried and tried to keep this one away from the wood chips...
then I gave up


Walking to "our" park.


Even Lexi wanted to soak in some rays

and when we aren't at the park, we're usually watching this....

which inspired us to be artistic with some chalk....

We are loving our big back patio!

Did you ever do this as a kid? We used to always outline ourselves and then color in what we were wearing.

Taryn keeps asking me when we are going back to Grandma's house, so we made a paper chain to count down the days....

She's still confused with how it works, but it was something to do :)

Unfortunately the clouds have come rolling in, but that makes for a cozy conference weekend :) I really want to take a drive over to Tahoe and check out the amazing scenery I keep hearing about. If it's not too rainy tomorrow, we just might make the trip!

oh... I couldn't leave you without sharing this...

I think Tenley has a thing for swings. ;)

Wanting a Worry Stick

We come to earth to do one thing.

Have a body.

And of course to get this body we have to be born. Some of us are lucky enough to come into this world to a loving family with a Father and a Mother.

Some of those Father's and Mother's are ready... waiting... wanting...
Others are taken by surprise. All in all at some point or another we each have the desire to become one of them.

My sister is no exception.

As Robbie and I decided to start "trying" for baby number two, I found out my sister Lisa wanted to start for their number one. It was such a thrill to think of us sisters being pregnant together... having our kids grow up together... share all those fun and crazy child rearing moments together.

But Heavenly Father had a different plan in mind.

I feel selfish now thinking it took some time to get pregnant with Tenley. My sister has been going through the "trying" roller-coaster to say the least. It's all she wants. A baby of her own.

Yesterday I came across a few posts on some wonderful blogs that reminded me just how challenging and rewarding motherhood can be. Once that precious babe is starting to form, we are handed what my mom would call a "worry stick."

I've got two worry sticks, and my mom has four. Once you are given a worry stick, it is yours forever....
It all begins by worrying about your pregnancy. "Is the baby growing, am I drinking enough water, did I take my pre-natal."
Then it goes into kicking reassurance... "I wasn't paying attention to the baby moving, what if something's wrong!"
But it doesn't stop there... oh no, that's just the beginning. You worry about labor, then if the baby has all ten fingers and toes, then feedings, and sids. After awhile it turns into new worries... "Why isn't my baby sleeping through the night? What if she has an ear infection?" and so on and so forth.

You'd think you'd be done carrying the stick once the child leaves home, heads off to college, or gets married.
Wrong! Think again.
My mom has plenty of worries infested in her worry sticks. P-L-E-N-T-Y.

As of this moment, my worry stick's are somewhat easy to carry around. I get to keep my children at home safe beside me to nurture and love. My main worry is what the heck am I going to do with them today so we aren't completely bored, with a side of getting Taryn to eat, and making sure Tenley isn't eating choke-able items.

At times when I feel frustrated and begin to lose my patience I remember my sweet sister and just how much she'd give for these moments. She wants to feel nauseous and tired and completely drained in pregnancy. She wants to wake up at all hours of the night to hold a newborn babe and nurse them back to sleep.
She is begging for a worry stick.... and I am praying hard for her to get one soon.
Now, it's not like Lisa is this old maid and her time is limited. Time is on her side, but that does not make waiting any easier.

I love my sister and all the fun times we have had together. I love our similarities, and our differences. I love that we look so much alike. I know her babies will come soon. I know once they are here she will understand why she needed to wait and go through this period of time. Life is hard, life is unpredictable, but life is beautiful in every season.

I love you Lisa. I am here for you as we wait for your season of motherhood to begin.

Brett and Lisa summer of '09

Tenley turns O.N.E.

I'm already feeling the guilt from not documenting each and every cute, funny, and priceless moment child number two has shared.

It was bound to happen... but man, I feel like a bad mama.

So... this milestone will not be forgotten!! Tenley is now the ripe age of ONE! My baby... my booga... she's a year.

Let me fill you in on a few awesome traits of Tenley Jane.

- her grin. It's cheesy, it's crinkly, it will make any frown turn upside down.

- she is the fastest crawler in the wild wild west.

- spunky... that would be the one word I'd choose to sum up her personality.
The girl is spunkerific!

- she has awesome hair. It's grown in even, it's fun and fluffy, and it's going to be bright blonde once the sun gets some rays on it.

- her toes. They are still those same goofy grandpa toes she came from heaven with... and let me tell ya, they look hil-ar-i-ous in sandals.

- eating is her all time favorite thing to do. So opposite of my other child. She will down a piece of toast, an entire banana, some cereal, and juice... just for breakfast.

- she loves the bottle. I nursed her up until a few months ago, then she decided the bottle was a quicker and (I'm sure) more fulfilling meal. Another new love my first born was never fond of.

- she isn't afraid of making a mess. Whether it's with food, toys, my jewelry, or all of the dvd's.

I got her this book for her birthday because I thought the monkey looked like her!

- she is adventurous and wants to explore everything around her, but still get's nervous if I'm not in sight.

- she absolutely LOVES her big sister. If Taryn laughs, she laughs... if Taryn's crying, she's starts too. One of my favorite things is seeing these two get so excited to see each other every single morning.

- she is a social butterfly. She will make sure she's noticed and can keep an entire room (or wedding party) entertained.

- she loves to flirt, and does with Daddy all the time.

Even though my girls look a lot a like, they definitely have their very own personalities. I am loving this adventurous, flirty, giggly, spunky gal of mine! She makes me laugh every day and keeps life fun and simple. I am so grateful to wake up to her gap toothed smile every morning. She keeps me on my toes, and even though she likes being on the go, she still has her snuggle moments.
I wouldn't trade those moments for the world.

...As for the Reno celebration....

We headed out to The Wild Island Adventure Park here in Sparks to have some fun and celebrate last Monday night. Next time we will have to bring some friends, but the girls loved climbing around and throwing balls around in the "High Ballocity"

Lucky for us there weren't too many kids so we had lots of room to play.

The next day was her actually birthday and Taryn insisted we make her a birthday cake. Luckily she settled for funfetti cupcakes. :)

What began like this...

ended like this...

told ya she could eat.

Taryn wanted to help document the event.

short, sweet, and to the point :)

A big hit has been the present from Grandma Go-go. The girls love this crazy ball popin' machine.

and I'm sure glad I stumbled upon this while visiting my happy place...

Target.

I'm sure she will be walking in no time, but I'm in no rush. Luckily she hasn't quite figured out how to push this walker around yet. She's more interested in the fun gimmicks on the front.

All in all we had a fun time celebrating Tenley's first birthday. I feel like I just posted her birth story! She sure knows how to make an entrance. :)

LOVE YOU SWEET TENLEY!!!