Book Worms

Yesterday after I bathed the girls, I put Caitlyn on the ground to stretch while I went to put the towels away. When I came back in the room, I found Madisen reading a book to Caitlyn. It was so sweet! So I ran to get my camera to catch the moment candidly. Then I put Caitlyn on her tummy and Madisen kept reading to her. She was so sweet that she kept trying to help Caitlyn feel the tummy's of the animals.

Home Improvement Project #2, phase 1

HOORAY!! We have added some color to the back yard! Bill and our friend put in sprinklers and sod in our yard. You'll also notice the planter box against the house that Bill created with a windsor wall. We're going to fill it with colorful flowers. Along the back and other side wall we're going to have some trees and bushes. We'll keep you posted.

More Visitors

When we moved to Las Vegas, someone told us that we'd be surprised a the number of people we'd have visit us here. They were so right- we love it!! There always seems to be someone coming through from UT to CA or vice versa and we can thank the convention centers at the casinos for the rest of our visitors! This week my dear friend and former roommate Julie came to visit with her 2 children. One day we walked to the park for a picnic and then came home for popsicles. While Caitlyn and Aiden took their afternoon naps, Madisen, Halle and Rebecca (our neighbor and friend) played SO WELL at our house. The best was when they were all dressed up and having a tea party.
The next day we went to Julie's hotel and swam in the pool. This was Caitlyn's first experience at the pool. She did OK for a few minutes, but she was happier laying on her towel, in the shade, playing with a toy. It's been a HOT week here in Vegas. Tomorrow we're going to break a record- it is supposed to get up to 97 and the record is 95- YIKES! Summer is coming too fast.

How could I forget?

I forgot to post 2 of Caitlyn's newest 'milestones'! We borrowed a Jumperoo from our friend, Lisa, and Caitlyn just loves it. She's an active baby and loves to be up and looking around, so this is a great place for her to use up some energy. When I took this picture she was bouncing up and down and just laughing! She's so pleased with herself when the lights and music go off as she's bouncing. The toys are within her reach and she's starting to figure out how to move them around.
The other unique thing that Caitlyn does is scoot all over. No, not on her tummy, but on her back. She's a back archer! This is so different for me b/c Madisen was not. In fact, I haven't met a back archer before. She arches her back when you hold her, in her bouncer, in her carseat, etc. But when she arches her back in the crib or on the floor she pushes with her feet and can scoot all over the place. The other day she had been playing on her activity mat while I was changing laundry. When I went back to check on her, she had scooted over to the piano and was sucking on the leg of the piano. I don't quite know how to capture this trick on camera, but when I do, I'll share it.

Home Improvement Project #1

Well, we all get the itch sometimes to make a few improvements to our home. I've had the itch and been saving for just over a year now and this week I put the finishing touches on the top of my kitchen cabinets. I was pleased with how it turned out. The cute thing is that randomly Bill will make a comment about how much he likes it. Proof positive that men appreciate the womans touch on a home.

Stay tuned for Home Improvement Projects #2 and #3- the backyard and the entry way!

A Visit From Grandma

I've been extra busy in the last 2 weeks- hence the long space btwn. posts. One of the things we got to do was have my mom here for a visit! Some other family members were coming to town on business so she hitched a ride with them. It was the best 2 days of our whole month. We went to the park one afternoon and then grandma babysat while Bill and I went to the temple. The next day we did some shopping on the strip and at the outlets and just enjoyed having grandma at our house for a while. Thanks for the visit grandma!! We sure love having our family come to town!

Spring Outfits

There are new outfits that the girls got for spring! (Thanks Aunt Kellie!) Spring time in Las Vegas is VERY windy- as you can tell by the one picture, the other pictue was taken at the park in a protected area. Just when the weather is a perfect temperature for playing outside, it's too windy. The other night the wind kept us all up most of the night, I was afraid that we were going to blow away like in the Wizard of Oz. Caitlyn look so great in red- this bow makes her look like a present, too.

5 Months Already!

Yesterday was Caitlyn's 5 month birthday! She is growing up too quickly! The bow on her head is still a bit big, but it is the only white one I have. I think it makes her look like a present. We love our sweet and happy girl!! Some things she does now...
*When she's tired I can lay her in her crib and she falls asleep on her own. Hooray!!
*She searches for Madisen in a room the instant she hears her voice. She loves to giggle and laugh at Madisen, especially is Madisen is dancing to her little radio!
*Her toes are still her favorite toy.
*I love her tiny hands on my face as she reaches up to explore when I'm holding her.
*She's got a tight grip on anything she holds- Madisen tells her to be gentle if she grabs her hair. :)

One More Sweet One

I forgot to put this one up- it just captures how sweet Madisen can be to her sister. Oh, and speaking of sisters... my sister called today to tell us that she's expecting a baby in September. Hooray for Tiff and Ryan! Kellie is pulling for a boy!!

Easter Egg Hunt

Some friends invited us over for dinner and an Easter egg hunt after church. Madisen and Makayla had a great time hunting all over the house for the eggs. They were so delighted with each egg they found and were so sweet to share with each other! By the end of the hunt they had about 50 eggs each- their baskets were so full that the eggs were falling out. Once the eggs were all gathered, they had to open each one to see what was inside. Madisen stopped each time she got to a new piece of gum, unwrapped it and put it in her mouth. If she already had one in, then she'd take it out and put a new one in. Pretty soon dad stepped in and quickly put the gum in a special spot for later.

Happy Easter

Here are a few pictures of our adorable girls in their beautiful Easter dresses (thanks Aunt Christy!). Caitlyn looks so sober here, but she really does smile. It was a wonderful Easter day! Church was neat and then we went to a dinner and Easter Egg hunt with some friends.

Talkin' to Grandma

Madisen loves to get either my phone or Bill's and try to call people. She either wants to call Grandma or Uncle Stew. Tonight she put the ear piece in her ear, plugged it into Bill's phone, and pushed a number to call Grandma. Then she walked around the house holding the phone in one hand while she was 'talking' on the phone. We helped her really call Grandma and she was delighted to talk to her. It's so funny how technologically savvy she is at such a young age.

Easter Eggs

Yesterday while Makayla was over I helped the girls decorate Easter eggs. We colored on them with crayons first and then dipped them in 4 colors- yellow, red, purple, and green. It was cute b/c they wanted to put every egg in all of the colors. Their favorite part was stirring them around the container. I was impressed at their ability to hold the egg on the spoon as they removed it from the dye. They were beautiful when they were done!

So Sweet!

(Caitlyn thinks Madisen is sooo funny! Unfortunately you can't see that she's laughing at Madsien as she says "Boo".)

Caitlyn has grown up so much this week! I can see her personality developing every day.
*She has discovered her voice and loves to use it.
*She's found her feet and pulls them to her mouth when she's laying down, especailly on the changing table. When she lays on her mat where the toys hang abover her she can kick the toys and she's pretty delighted about that.
*My favorite development of the week is that Caitlyn has figured out that Madisen is pretty silly. The other night while Caitlyn was laying on her mat and Madisen was running back and forth past her, Caitlyn was giggling so hard that she was laughing from her belly. It's so cute to see how much they adore each other.
*When Caitlyn wakes up from a nap or in the morning, Madisen runs to tell me that she's awake. Then she goes in to talk or sing to her until I get there. This morning she was singing the ABC's to her. When I came in, she said "Mom, she likes that song."

Wheeler Farm

(This was my favorite picture of the day. The kids really enjoyed feeidng the ducks.)

(Both kids lovoed looking at the horses. It was especially exciting that they were eating.)

On our last visit to UT we got to go to Wheeler Farm. (Thanks for the reminder Brooke.) We met up with my Aunt Sherry, her daughter-in-law ChrisAnne and ChrisAnne's son Wyatt. I think my favorite part of the day was watching my mom and my aunt thoroughly enjoying their role as grandma. Aren't they both so adorable! They look too young to have grandchildren in my opinion.

Our Walk

After conference this afternoon we took Madisen on a bike ride. She doesn't have the hang of pedaling yet, so we put a broom in the basket so we could help move her along without bending over and hurting our backs. Today we practiced steering. It was pretty comical to listen to Bill try and explain left, right and straight. She responded with a blank and confused look, and then kept steering like she was trying to make some figure 8's. It took a long time to get around the block, but it we had a great time!

Caitlyn's new chair

We are trying out this 'Bumbo' chair for Caitlyn. She loves to be up and looking around at what's going on so I thought she might like this. We borrowed it from a friend to see how she likes it and so far it's been a hit. Tonight while I was cooking dinner, and Madisen was outside helping Bill with the BBQ, I had her on the counter with her toy. She worked really hard to get it and was quite pleased with herself when she reached it.

Slip Slops

Madisen has a hard time saying the 'f' sound. It's so cute to hear her try, but it always comes out as an 's' sound instead. Lately it's been expanded to the 'sp' sound. For example, when she says she's running fast she says "I'm running spast." Or yesterday when we went swimming, she was wearing "sploaties". My favorite thing she says is slip slops. Here she is wearing her new summer 'slip slops'.

New Do's

Yesterday after the 2nd session of General Conference, we paid a visit to our some of our friends from Henderson. Lisa is my hairdresser and she gave Madisen and I each a new look. We put some extra blonde highlights in my hair and I got a new cut. We cut some layers into Madisen's hair b/c it's so darn thin. She looks so grown up!!