Giddy' Up

Chayse has taken a new liking to cowboy hats and scarfs. I have yet to buy him one! (though I will soon buddy!) Chayse was playing at Jacque's the other day and she let him bring C's home to play with! Of course I had to snap a few pics of my cowboy and his lil cowgirl sister!

Here are a couple more random pics!

A New Play Group!

My friend Jacque and I decided it would be fun to start a play group for the summer with girls in our ward and any other friends and family who would like to join! It just so happens that most of the girls there have a 2 yr old boy! There are also a couple 4 yr olds that have a blast together and a few babies for Miss Alexa to play with! Miss S is about a month older than her so it will be fun to have them play together as they get older and more mobile! We usually have a picnic and Jacque brings out these fun water toys that attach to hoses and the kids have a blast playing in them. While the kids are having crazy fun, us women get to sit and chat about life! Its so fun, and a great way for kids to be more social and get out in the sun and get some exercise. Should I mention the selfish factor for us women, that in the back of our heads we are thinking..."Oh yes..this will wear them out..then its nap time for the kids and quiet time for me!"

This last Wednesday, we had a few new people and I love that they came and hope they continue to come! Jessica (who I went to high school with and we have lived by each other for awhile and finally getting together!)..brought her little boy "J" and he is such a cute little guy! I hope he had fun Jessica! Jessica's cousin also came with her cute little boy who we will call "J" as well, and he was darling and had such beautiful eyes! We also had Chayse's nursery teacher Jenny, come and I'm glad I got to spend some time with her! She is so sweet. Her little ones, Miss S and "B" are too cute and Chayse loved riding "B"s bike! Hope to see you guys again this week!

Alexa was pooped after her day in the sun!

Congratulations to Brandon & Amber Read!

My good friend Amber had her second beautiful baby girl on June 19th! I just wanted to congratulate her and her husband! She is darling! You make gorgeous babies! :) Amber I hope you recoop quickly and are feeling great! Isn't it crazy that we both have two little ones now! How much life has changed since the days of living together in Orem, psycho "yell leaders" and Chicken Strip Mondays at Black Angus! Im glad we have still stayed friends for all these years! I love it that you are so happy with a great husband and two beautiful little girls!

My New Addiction

So I finally gave in to all the hype and purchased some products from Scentsy! I absolutely love my warmer and the scents I got with it!

I don't know if my husband likes my new addiction just because that is more money out the window, but I bet it he loves it when he comes home and it smells delicous!!!

Nanny Diaries Part 2

I took a couple of cute pictures of Chayse, Alexa and Jaden the other day..so I thought I would post them! Jaden is so fun to nanny and really is such an easy little guy! Alexa and Jaden are on the same sleeping and eating schedule. Which I love because even though it gets a little hectic for about 15 minutes, its great to have that time to spend with Chayse or to get a little housework done, while they are sleeping. The last time I posted about nannying, I left off with wondering how feeding time would go. Well it goes really well because luckily God gave me two hands, and even more luckier...I have a little 2.5 yr old who loves to feed his sister and does a pretty good job!

My kids are darn cute...

And here is proof!

Chayse is Our Hero!

As we were heading out to church today, there was a slight bit of miscommunication..where I thought Brandon had the keys, and he thought I had the keys. Well, as Brandon shut the door, we realized..NEITHER of us had the keys. So here we are, locked out of the house. I called my brother in law who lives in the same condo complex as us..but just our luck..he was up in North Logan. Brandon was going around to see what windows were open and the kitchen one luckily was. Well its not that big, and without anything for Brandon to step up on, he couldn't get through. Chayse was just the right size..so Brandon called him over and told him the plan. Chayse is not very adventurous and gets really nervous about everything, so we didn't think he would do it. Chayse proved us wrong and let Brandon put him through the window. Brandon held on as long as he could, but Chayse dropped the last foot off the counter and ran over to open the door for us! I was so proud of my little guy! Thank goodness for 2 yr olds..who listen (sometimes) :)

Happy Father's Day!

Im joining the blogging bandwagon of Father's Day posts! I too wanted to take a minute to express how blessed I am to have such great father figures in my life! To my Dad who has put up with me through thick and thin, was a father AND a mother to me at times, and who is such a great grandfather to my kiddos! They love him dearly! To Brandon's Dad who has is always the first to jump at playing with my kids, taking Chayse on bike rides and changing poopy diapers! :P Chayse is always so excited to go play with Grandpa Leavitt! He sure did play a great role in raising my awesome husband!

On to my husband, the amazing guy my kids call Daddy! He is the best dad I could ask for, for my kids! Today, as I sat in sacrament and listened to the talks about fathers, I looked over at my husband and got tears in my eyes. He was drawing with Chayse and trying to keep him quiet during the talks, but I could just see the love in his eyes. When he would hold Alexa and then give her back to me, he would always kiss her before he handed her over. I just feel so lucky to have him. They were talking about how over 50% of families in the United States only have one parent in the home. I understand that things happen and sometimes life only permits single parenting..but I just have to remember to count my blessings daily that I have such a great partner in Brandon to raise our kids! I love you so much babe and your kids absolutely adore you!

A New Adventure

Today, I embark of the adventure of "nannyhood" again! I decided I wanted to make some extra money on the side, and thought that being a nanny would be perfect! I wanted to watch one child here in my home, and luckily that is just what I got.

I posted an ad on Craigslist, not thinking I would get a response, but still wanted to try it out! I was a little nervous because you never what kind of people may respond. Well I got a response that night or the next night...I cant remember. Anyway she asked me a few questions, then added a P.S. at the bottom asking me if I was Brandon's wife. I asked Brandon if he knew her and he was like, " Ya that is the CEO of the company's daughter." Immediately I felt better because Brandon knew her, and she said it made her more comfy from the get go, knowing I was Brandon's wife.

So anyway, she has a little baby boy who will be 3 months on Friday I believe. He is so darling and in the 2.5 hrs he has been here, he has slept most of it..but when he was awake he was so fun to play with. It will be lots of fun for Alexa to have a little one to play with that is close to her age, and Im sure Chayse likes having another boy around!

Will it get a little hectic with two babies you may ask? Yes ther are times I am sure it will be a little hectic, but Chayse still takes a long nap during the day, and both the babies still sleep a lot. As they get older and both get more mobile, it may be a little hectic..but its only for 3 days a week and 6 hrs a day! Its the perfect situation! Well I better run..both of the babies are starting to wake up and they are both going to be hungry at the same time! This should be interesting! :)

Another First for Alexa!

Last night Alexa tried some rice cereal for the first time. At first she just ate it..then she started giving me weird looks. We will try it once a day for a couple weeks, then start to introduce other foods! Hopefully she is as good of an eater as Chayse is!

This picture just makes me laugh! She looks like she isn't going to keep it down!

Alexa's New Toy

Brandon and I put together Alexa's excersaucer on Sunday and she loves it! She is always so smiley when she is in it, and Chayse loves to show her how to play with all the toys!

Just look at the love between those two! He adores her and she can do nothing but smile at him!

Army Wives

Is anyone else excited about the fact that Army Wives is back on? For those of you who haven't ever watched it..make sure to check it out on Sunday nights at 8pm on Lifetime! I swear I cry almost every episode! The second season premiered last night and it was a great one! Though I don't have a husband in the service..it sheds a new light and understanding on what those wives who have husbands serving, have to go through.

Alexa is 4 Months Old!

Oh my! I can't believe how time has flown! My baby girl is already 4 months old! So since she is technically 17 wks old, here are 17 things about Alexa thus far!

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• She loves her mobile in her crib, but has to be laying a certain direction to watch it.
• No one can make her smile like her brother!
• She has started to laugh and its so cute to hear it.
• She has rolled over from front to back once...(story in previous post)
• She is wearing 6 month clothes
• Today we will set up her excersaucer, hopefully she will love it..well she better love it! :)
• Unlike her brother at this age, she doesn't like to watch movies...she lasts like 5 min.
• She is grabbing and batting at her toys, and loves to suck on them.
• She sucks on her fingers a ton lately..last night she almost got her whole fist in there.
• Her hair is long enough to put in two piggies on the top! I love it!
• She babbles and coos a ton, and its so sweet to hear her little voice.
• She tries to mimic different sounds I make at her.
• She sleeps through the night for the most part..with an occasional 3am feeding.
• She loves to be outside.
• She can fall asleep on her own! (Something Chayse still hasn't mastered.)
• She sleeps in her crib and loves it!
• Last but not least..she is so kisseable, huggeable, loveable..unbelievable! :)

Needless to say she sure is loved around here! Chayse adores her continually and is such a big help! Her 4 month appt is next week, so I will post her stats after that! :)

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Once again, we were the beneficiaries of the Kiddie Kandids VIP Photo Shoot. I think this is the 4th or 5th time we have been asked to come into Kiddie Kandids so they could take pics for training, and we get a free 8x10 out of it! It's always been with Chayse before, but this time we had Alexa with us and they did both of them. Here are a couple of the pictures! Sorry they are so small, I had to get them off the website and they don't blow them up any bigger!

I got the 8x10 in the last one! They did really well and it was fun! I wouldn't mind a bit if we get asked 4 or 5 more times! It's fun and a good way to get a free picture! :)

An update or two...

Wow I feel like we were gone so much in May and when we weren't gone..we were crazy busy! I didn't really get a chance to blog as much as I usually do! Well, an update is in order then! Brandon had to go to back to Vegas for work, so I hung out in Boise with the kids while he was there! It was lots of fun! We were there for a little over a week and it was so fun to be able to see and hang out with my friends and their little ones! Thanks to all for such a fun time!

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He had to go back to Vegas again for a couple days, and left on Sunday and came back last night. While he was gone, we hung out at Brandon's brother and sister in law's house. It was crazy with a 4 yr old, two 2 year olds and a 4 month old! It was quite the circus act to fit them all into our car when we went places..but we had a blast and the kids had a blast hanging out together. Taylor was so motherly to Alexa, always wanting to feed her and hang out with her! She was so sweet with her! I loved being able to hang out with my sister in law, Jenny, so much! We always have such great talks and she is so fun to be around! Thanks for letting us stay with you!

An update on the kids:

Chayse is definitely keeping us on our toes! He is so full of energy and I love his zest for life! He loves playing outside and would all day if I would let him! He is still working on potty training, defintely slowly..but he will get there. Im just hoping it will click soon! :)

He will be 3 here in a couple months and he is so so excited for his Handy Manny party! I cant believe how fast time flies and I want him to stay little forever.

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So a little cute story...I decided it was time for Chayse to get rid of some of his toys. He was getting entirely too many and I am just not one who likes a lot of little toys everywhere. SO I told Chayse it was time to give away some of his toys to kids who don't have any. He was so cute about it and went through his toys and filled a rubbermaid with the toys he wanted to give to the DI. He was genuinely concerned about the kids..and he really put a lot of thought into which toys he was going to give away.

Here are a couple pictures of Chayse with his toys! He is just too cute! :)

Now to Miss Alexa! She is cooing and babbling so much and I love to hear her little voice! She is drooling and chewing on her hands like crazy..which means...teething time! None have popped through yet, so we will see how long it takes! I put her hair into two little piggie tails on top of her head yesterday and she looked so cute! I will have to get a picture of them!

She will be 4 months on Saturday and I cant tell you how much I love this stage. She is really starting to develope such a darling personality and she smiles so much and it makes my heart melt. She will be able to start on rice cereal soon and she will be old enough to go in her awesome excersaucer my grandma got for her!

So Alexa rolled completely over from front to back last night for the first time. Though it was scary how it happened, its fun all in the same. Brandon was unloading the dishwasher last night and he had her laying on a blanket on the counter. She was babbling away and having a good old time. Well I of course Im not too happy when I see her on the counter because she doesn't need to be there. Brandon said she was fine and was having a good time. (which she was) So I was looking down at Chayse and talking to him and when I glanced up, she had rolled over onto her belly, only inches away from the edge! I jumped over and grabbed her and try not to freak out again. I just kept thinking how close she came from falling off the counter and feeling like a horrible parent. I guess I was guilty of thinking it was too early for her to roll over because Chayse didn't roll over from back to front until he was 5 or 6 months. Well now we know better! So that is exciting that she can do that now, but not so exciting on how we found out! :)

Well that is all for now..I am going to take advantage of both my kids sleeping and try and catch some zzz's and get some housework done!