Smiles :)

She is really starting to like her exersaucer :)

Sisterly Love in the Morning :)

Lately in the morning Gracelyn and I will go into Briella's room and hang out... of course Gigi always wants to be VERY close to her sister so now we start out our mornings like this ...

Kisses :)

I just LOVE waking up to these girls!!

Some firsts for Ella!

Our sweet Ellabellaroo is growing up... She had a lot of firsts this weekend.

First time in the double jogger: We were given this stroller and never had the opportunity to use it until now! Ella is finally strong enough to hold herself up so we took this on our family walk. It is a dream to push... I thought it would be tough without the swivel wheel but it is actually so nice to run in a straight line!! This will definitely be our new best friend for walks and of course the Zoo! She fell alseep in it on our way back down the "mountill" (paved hill-like mountain behind our house ;) I can see us taking this baby to DISNEYLAND in 270 more days!!! yay!!!

Exersaucer: She wasn't too sure of it at first but then started to notice all the toys! My amazing Aunt found this for me at a Kid to Kid shop for 5!!! I didn't even think twice I got it and made it fit in our car on our way back from Utah haha I wasn't expecting it to be too cute.. but boy do I love this !!!

First toothie: She has a little flap on skip on her gums where a tiny little tooth bud is trying to make its way through... this would explain all the drooling, fussyness, extra sleep and bright red cheeks!

She fell asleep during tummy time haha

A day off is best spent with family!

at the Zoo!!!!!

My cute chubbette!

David had the day off on Wednesday so after Briella's 4m appt we headed to the ZOO! Gracelyn was so very excited to see the animals!! David had not seen the Koala exhibit yet so we went there first they are soooo cute!! We love going to the Zoo. I try to take the girls as often as I can but it is always more fun when the whole family can go together!

We LOVE our membership and just renewed for another year!! As a surprise for her we let her ride the carousel for the first time! Since we are members it is only a dollar so Ella and I enjoyed watching Gracelyn ride the lion from the shade while Daddy rode with her!!!

Ella tried out riding in the stroller as a big girl but didn't like it for long... she switched back and forth between Mommy holding her, Daddy holding her, and riding in my sling!

We love going to the Zoo and have already planned our next visit back this coming week!! 

Dr. Gracie

Lately Gracelyn has had a HUGE interest in playing Doctor. It could be that her sweet friends Allie has a Dr. kit and she enjoyed playing with it so much that since then she has found random hosue items to use as medicine and bandaids!!

Well we were at the store getting something and looked to see if they had a small Dr's kit since she still has some money from Christmas and instead I found THIS!!!! Even better... it was on CLEARANCE for 10.00!!!! I thought it would be really cheap plastic and probably break but it isn't! It is strong and she hasn't stopped playing with it since we got it :)

Don't you wish your Dcotor gave you kisses to make it all better :)

*** I paid 5.00 for the year and now get 20GB of pictures to upload... this blog will have pictures again yay!

4 Amazing Months!

My sweet Briella Rain.
Or "Lella" "Ella"and "Ellabellaroo"

 I can't believe you are already 4 months old. With your sister I was so excited for each new milestone but with you... I want to you stay a baby FOREVER! I don't want you to grow up... I already have a big girl I still need my baby!!! Thankfully you will still be a baby for a while :)

You are so much fun! From the moment you wake up you are all smiles!! When I go in to get you and flip you over to your back you stretch out and then smile HUGE! When I am changing your diaper you smile a ton and even giggle when I tickle under your neck. You sister loves you so much and gets so excited to to get you up in the morning... she shouts "LELLA WAKE" as soon as she hears even the smallest noise coming from your room! You have look at your sister different than anyone else... like your sister bond is already forming and I feel so blessed for you one day have the relationship that I have with my sisters She can make you smile and laugh in mid cry! I am in LOVE with your eyelashes and blonde hair.... not to mention those bright blue eyes... I find myself staring at you all the time :)

If you double click on this picture you can see her LONG eyelashes :)

We are still working on nursing... You are soooo good at it but because of your allergies you have been on formula since you were 6 weeks old and even though I pumped I am still trying to get my supply back... right now I am on fenugreek supplements, nurse you every chance I get ... like every 20 min sometimes, and I also pump. Because I am afraid of you losing weight I am still giving you the formula but now 4-5oz rather than the 6-8 you were taking! YES YOU LOVE TO EAT! Just like your sister... I love your rolls on  your legs and your double chin is stinkin' cute! I just love having healthy (chubby) babies!!!

You can entertain yourself for quite sometime as long as you are in your bouncer or your swing... your play mat doesn't last long and the same things with your bumbo... that is okay ... I would rather hold you anyway! You LOVE T.V. which is so funny because we don't want it that much. The sad thing is you don't like Seseme street or Mickey mouse like Gigi does you like real action shows... I don't blame you ;) Gracelyn would love to watch Twenty Four with us... you are just following in her footsteps...

You are such a wonderful sleeper! What is it with my babies and ending their nighttime feedings so early... I miss those special times with you at night when all you wanted was your Mommy! You stopped those nighttime feedings around 7 weeks... so you now go to bed around 7:30 and then wake up between 9-9:30!!! Yay! It is nice because Gigi and I get at least an hour of special time before you wake up and need to eat! Then you take your morning nap around 10:30 and sleep for a couple of hours! You usually wake up around lunch time... Your sister goes down around 1:30 so then I get some one on one time with you before your next nap around 2:30! Then it is MOMMY TIME! I will work out, clean the house or just relax and catch up on tv shows... I can't wait to start Mom's Bible Study back up again at SBC... nap time is when I will do my homework! I always learn so much!!!! You both wake up around the same time then we play before dinner! After dinner you take a bath with your sister and you LOVE it! She likes to help put warm water on you and lather up your hair with shampoo it is so sweet to see how much your sister loves you!

You are learning to sit up on your own though if you look away and lose your concentration you face plant :) I am in no hurry for you to do it though because then that means you don't need Mama anymore :(  We are really torn on whether to start you on cereal this month or wait... because of our feeding issues we can't guarantee you won't have allergies and we want to try and get the nursing under control first!

I can't wait to watch you learn new things and grow as sad as it is... it makes me so happy and brings me so much joy! Your Daddy and I are so so blessed to have you! You are such a happy baby and though we had a tough past two months the colic is almost all gone and boy are you a COMPLETELY different baby!!!! You seem to smile at anything and anyone! Strangers get so excited to make you smile... little do they know you just LOVE to smile :) Thankfully you don't hate your car seat anymore so we can go places with quiet yay! You love your Daddy but you are definitely a mama's girl.. which I LOVE because Gigi is SUCH a Daddy's girl.. it is so nice to be loved and wanted! We are so blessed!!


I love you so much my sweet Ellabellaroo! I am so thankful the Lord chose me to be your Mommy!

Oh and I apparently used up all my pictures... so I am going to have to buy more space! Pictures coming!!! I promise :)

Let it snow... let it snow... let it snow!

Christmas evening I came down with something... still don't know if it was the stomach bug or food poisoning but I was up all night throwing up. Sunday I tried to pack but still felt icky so around 9pm that evening I had decided to skip the trip... thinking about traveling by myself with two kiddos while feeling nauseous and driving 13 hours just didn't sound fun... by 6am I called my Mom still torn... not feeling great but not feeling terrible... again I decided against it... then around 10am I was up and had eating breakfast feeling AWESOME! I called my Mom in tears wishing I had left earlier and caravanned up with them!

Finally around noon my AMAZING family said they would stop in Wikieup (the smallest town on earth!) and wait three hours for the girls and I to get there. They sat at a picnic table for THREE hours playing with rocks just so I could come... like I said... amAzing family! Thankfully we were all packed for the most part so we were only 45min away from being able to leave. My sweet sister and her hubby who were flying up on Tuesday came over immediately to help me pack and get out of the house! David was still recovering from his cold like flu so thankfully he was home and we were able to say goodbye... then WE WERE OFF! Looking back I am SO GLAD they waited ... it was such a nice time up there spent with family! Though I was missing David, my sisters and Mom helped me out a ton with the girls and made the trip really enjoyable!!! We ended up breaking the trip up staying at a hotel and then driving in the next day due to black ice and other dangerous road conditions. Once we made it there it was non stop family fun!!

Hanging out in the hotel... love those rolls!

Smiling with Aunt Sue!

My Gigi and I playing in the first snowfall for us!

Getting cozy by the fire!

getting bigger... sniff sniff :(

Our car was snowed in... it took some strong men, a shovel, some digging and a lot of rocking the car to get it out... such an adventure for us "Zonies"

My snow diva!

All bundled up!

My sweet girls! I am so BLESSED to be their Mommy!

Sisters

We love you Aunt Sue!

Seeing everyone off!

Matching snow vests! Thank you Grandma Debby or "Bamma" as Gigi calls her!

Big girl... starting to sit up... NO! This Mama is NOT ready for her to grow up yet :(

Eating at the original Iceberg! 

SNOW!! we love you Libby!

We had a great time! Some shopping at Gardener Village...

 Eating at our favorite Utah places... Iceberg, Arctic Circle, Pie Pizzeria... 

Of course spending time with family... though it never seems like enough :( We love you all and hope to see you guys in the summer!

We LOVED

Playing in the snow... 

Staying up late playing Mexican Train... and finishing off our wonderful trip with toasting to a New year and all the wonderful blessings it will bring us!

I love you UTAH family!! Can't wait to see you all again in the summer!!!!

Thank you to Uncle David, Aunt Kay, Steve, Scott and Libby who always let us stay at their home EVERY time we come visit! You are the best hosts ever :)