just for my mom…

my mom pointed out that the picture I posted of Natalie was not very cute,

and she is very cute…

  so here are my efforts to capture that adorable grin of Natalie’s…

with just her two bottom teeth visible

(but several more busting through as we speak)…

  who me?

haha that’s funny…

…cheese? ok!

which bytheway “cheese” and “juice” are now in her vocabulary!

so I think that brings us up to 12 “words”

and everything else is signed, pointed, nodded, shaken, or cried.

I LOVE THOSE CHEEKS! maybe she is mine

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hello skinny jean…

Let’s just start off by saying I couldn’t believe some people are wearing these. they seem to sometimes look too tiny for people, or they make tiny people look even tinier… but maybe that’s the point. regardless, I couldn’t see myself in them. I just couldn’t imagine them looking good. I liked my bootcut, we have a great relationship. they seem to make me feel like I look good, so I was happy.  but then I ripped my favorite pair of bootcut, so my mom went to hit up a fabulous BF sale for me. only they didn’t have the same exact style (they are all already ripped up these days… blah!) so she mentioned the skinny jean. Marissa got some. of course, she looks cute in them. but then I got curious. I had her pick me up a pair. and I LOVE THEM. I want to wear them everyday. I want more boots to wear over them and more cute flats to go with them too.I don’t know if they actually look good on me or not, Darin hasn’t really said either way, but I think they are cute. Now the biggest problem, besides the shoe thing, is I want MORE! of course I am too cheap to just go get them, and I can’t justify another pair of pants (I have a few others already)… so how long can this pair last?  and can I wear them 3 days in a row if I promise not to spill ANY food on them (which is a big deal since I have 2 toddlers and I’m a messy eater myself)?!

my babies are growing up…

As I spend all day with these two hambones, I get to laugh quite a bit. While I was excited to have my kids close in age and hope they have that bond that I had with my brother growing up, I just didn’t realize that I would have two babies at the same time, or sometimes two toddlers, or two whiners, or two hyper-crazy nuggets wanting me to be their playmate instead of each other. But all too soon this will pass… I won’t be first choice, I’ll probably say everything they don’t want to hear and do things that embarrass them.  So for now, I’ll just laugh. I’ll love them for wanting the same drink, playing without clothes on, tackling me to be tickled, “helping” make every meal, “cleaning” in their own messy way…

Ahh… the joys of motherhood. I’m glad I accepted the challenge. I think.

Luke is quite a conversationalist (to me and his dad, he shies away and uses body language with most everyone else). He likes to talk his way into getting what he wants, and out of what he doesn’t want. He makes me laugh quite a bit with his efforts to make everything work out the way he wants.

Natalie is also quite a talker, or shall we say babbler. I often don’t know what she is talking about, but if you repeat the “words” she just said, then she will keep going.  She also has several teeth coming through and can be a bit crabby/clingy.  However, she has grown up so much that she doesn’t look like a baby anymore!  Everyone at church was astonished at how much she changed while we were gone. Oh, and she definitely has a handful of “looks” she dishes out. Wonder where she learned those?!

(Picture by Luke)

Home again, home again, jiggety jig!

Well after six days of travel, we made it home. We had such a great time in Canada, spending the holidays with so much family… I’m still gathering photos from everyone. I think we estimated our journey home around 40 hrs of driving, 12 states, 3 beds, 3 throw ups (and thus washing Nat’s carseat 3 times!) and a few happy meals.

(here’s our cowboy galloping around)

We’ve spent the past few days cleaning, reorganizing, and dejunking our house. It’s still not quite there yet, but it’s A LOT better!

 

(and here’s our colorful zebra chasing him)

Since we’ve been home, it’s been snowing creating a winter wonderland. Who knew I would leave the Great White North to come home to that?

I haven’t gotten back into my routine yet, maybe next week? But the laundry is done. For now.

Oh, and the kids had there check ups.

Luke: 36.5 in   Natalie: 31 in  …she’s catching up!

 

…and this little gem is a sample from our family photo shoot

with ALL the Payne’s (sans Elder Landizzle) at the Remington Carriage Center,

can’t wait to get the rest from the photographer!