Alice's Party

This little girl LOVES the park and begs to go all day. It was an easy decision to have her party at a great park near our family. We had all her cousins come and celebrate with us. She adores her cousins and knows all their names. She repeatedly asks about them every day... "where's Adi? Where's Wesley? They at home? Where's Jensen? He go to work?" Her face lights up when she is able to spend time with any family member and always asks for "one more minute, couple minutes" when its time to leave.  I am so happy my girls get to grow up surrounded by great examples and little friends. Alice is very loved by all her family!!

She was a little scared to blow out her candle. See her hand over her mouth... she did not want to do it. The wind had to do it for her:)

Post party nap. She refused to take off the hat till about 8pm. 

Alice 2 Years Old

She has finally turned 2!! It seems she has been 2 for the past 6 months. She is just so smart and talkative, everyone thinks she is 3. To celebrate we spent the day doing her favorite things: 1. eating breakfast food 2. playing at the park. 

 From the first moment I held this little girl I was smitten. Oh my goodness have I loved me some baby Alice! When I am old and gray I will ache for this sweet two year old and her blonde curls. I hope beyond hope that she has a little girl just her, one that I can kiss and snuggle. As naughty as she is, and she is very naughty, her beautiful spirit always brings a smile to me face. Every morning I get excited to see her and hear her sweet voice. Alice, I adore you and thank my Heavenly Father I get to be you mama!

Her Favorite Books

1.Goodnight Moon

2. Brown Bear Brown Bear What do you See

3. The Bunny Book

Her Favorite Songs (we sing before bed every night)

1. 5 Little Ducks

2. 5 Speckled Frogs

3. The Night Night Bird Song

4. Let it Go

Her Favorite Shows

1. Tinkerbell

2. My Little Pony

3. Curious George

Her Favorite Food

1. Mac N Cheese

2. Chicken

3. Gold Fish and Cookies

4. Eggs and pancakes

5. McDonalds- man she loves that place!

But... her most favorite things are her bottle, blanket, and baby. We call them the "three B's". If she has those her world is complete! Oh, and she must tickled at least 10 times a day. She grabs my hand, lays down, and says "tickle mom, tickle mom". I tickle her and throw her around a bit and she LOVES it!

 

Alice in 2 words

1. Spirited

2. Confident

Frozen Melts my Heart

It has happened...my girls are obsessed with princesses! Specifically, they LOVE Elsa and Anna from Frozen. We have all the dolls and listen to the music constantly!! The moment we get in the car Scarlett pipes up "Turn on Let it Go!" I turn it on and the girls sing every word. They love it when I turn the volume way up and sing with them. Scarlett even moves her arms around and dances in her car seat. We then listen to it again and again and again. Then...we listen to the "Do You Want to Build a Snowman" aka "the snowman song". Even as a write this Alice is dancing around with her Anna doll listening to "the snowman song". She tries her best to say all the words but just can't. It is adorable to listen to her try. I would put a stop to all this madness but when they play with their dolls or sing the songs I can see the magic in their eyes. This is childhood...believing in magic, true love, the power of friendship, and a talking snowman. 

Yesterday Scarlett was playing with her Anna and Elsa doll at my feet while I ate my lunch. She looked up and said " Mom, I am like Elsa and Alice is like Anna. I am the big sister and she is my little sister. She is my best friend and I just love her." I love that Scarlett is learning the special bond of sisters. Thank you Disney!

Headless Olaf...I bet it is under Scarlett's bed.

When Scarlett is at preschool Alice gets to play with ALL the princess stuff and loves it. She is watching Tinkerbell, another favorite in our house.

"Being a sister is even better than being a Princess"

Moving on and Motherhood

We are thinking of moving... like really thinking and actually looking at houses. Nick works about 45 minutes away and it would be so nice to live closer to his work. He would be able to get home sooner and we could stop by his office to say "Hi". Some days he might be able to stop by the house for lunch or swing by to see the girls! These are things I get excited about. But then I get nervous...really, really nervous! I moved my stuff into this house a week before we got married and that was it. We have never moved in all 7 years of marriage. I consider it a huge blessings to have made this house a home and grow very close to ward members. I have made remarkable friends and to leave would be heart breaking. So much of my life has happened here and this house has become a member of our family. I might even miss all three stories worth of stairs (nahh just kidding!). 

I remember sitting on our coach just after I got married and feeling very homesick. I missed the noises of a busy household and all my siblings. It took time for this place to feel "like home". Now I sit on our coach and no place feels more peaceful and homey. I stare out our balcony doors and see the beautiful tree that hangs over. I have watched the tree blossom, change colors, and lose leaves for 7 wonderful years. Will I see it blossom those beautiful spring flower again? These are things I think about. I get a little teary but then I know it my heart it is time to move on. Time to make another house a home!

I was just 21 years old and knew very little of life when I moved in as a new wife. These 7 years have been good for me and I will leave this house a much better person. I feel that nothing has helped me grow more than motherhood. My girls have taught me how to be patient, selfless, kind, and gentle. Before children I had NONE of those attributes...like zero! So even though I have a long way to go in perfecting these qualities I know I am on the right path. I wonder if anyone else feels that being a parent was just what they needed? Parenthood has been only event in my life that has and could have changed me. It softens my heart and brings me closer to my Savior. I understand his love for me as I love my children. I am excited for these wonderful girls to become mothers and experience the change of heart that comes from having children!

She must read books to fall asleep. 4 years old and still sucking those little fingers.

 

 This tree is our backyard neighbors. It hangs way over our kitchen balcony and drops leaves constantly that I have to sweep up. I have never had the heart to tell them to cut it back, I just love it too much. Of all the things I will miss about this house it's this tree I will miss the most. I hope I am here for just one more spring so I can sit and star at these purple blossoms. 

2013 Highlights

2013 was a fantastic year and it went by too fast. I still think it should be September not the beginning of 2014. It went by fast because we were having fun as a family and were super busy with work/school. I loved not being pregnant, having a newborn, or nursing this year!! I could actually enjoy my two little girls and not be strapped to my house... oh it was so wonderful.

Here are the top 10

1. Turks and Caicos trip

2. Nick's MBA graduation

3. Starting Team Vegas Health 

4. Disneyland Trip

5. Nick teaching seminary

6. Scarlett starting Joyschool

7. Our little family trip to Laguna 

8. Alice getting her way (as usual) and being potty trained

9. Strobelt family Cabin trip end of December

10. Living the best summer of swimming and fun EVER!! (Emily says we lived like Greek Gods... I agree. Swimming, eating, napping, and enjoying the hot weather)

2014 is going to be a great year. I know... we have some things in the works but I don't want to spill the beans:)

Perfect Pair

My sweet baby Alice is not so sweet and not so baby:( She turns 2 in a month and I am wondering where the time went. No really, how did this happen?! It seems like yesterday I was rocking her to sleep and trying to get her to say "mama". Oh things have changed!

1. Alice has the vocabulary of a 6 year and loves to talk. Her favorite things to say are "that's not yours it's mine", "Scarlett where are you", " Jill and Nick" (rarely calls us mom and dad) "I want a bottle. I want a sippy cup"( and yes she means both), "please hold me", "Hold my hand Jill" (loves to hold hands with anybody) " I want a squinky" " I want my bunny" " Scarlett pushed me" "NOOOOOO KISS MOM" " tickle me, tickle me" and the most used one .... "I do it. Go away!"

2. She has been potty trained for about a month. She still has accidents but it is actually going really, really well. She refuses to have me be near her when she is on the potty. Even in public restrooms I have to shut the door and wait outside. "Shut the door and go away Jill. Go away. Go away" 

3. She is FIERCE!! Alice knows what she wants, can tell me what she wants, and gets what she wants. She has very strong opinions and has to do everything herself. If she can't do it I still have to let her try. She gives up eventually and then says "Help me". It makes everything about my day harder... getting her dressed, getting breakfast, getting in the car, putting on shoes, playing with toys, doing her hair... you name it and Alice wants to do it and make my life miserable.

4. I adore her. Everyone knows it, especially Alice. She loves me best and rightly so, I have to put up with a lot! She cuddles with me whenever I want and lays her head on my shoulder whenever I pick her up. Her sweet little face melts my heart and I give in to all her demands. Oops I may have created this irrational, opinionated, independent, strong willed, intelligent little monster.

5. I still adore her:)

What naughty looked like a year ago!

"My pretty yipstick Jill". Alice loves makeup, especially when I am not paying attention and she smears it everywhere. This about sums her up.

 Every day I am thankful for Scarlett's kindness and gentleness. Scarlett balances out Alice, they are the perfect sister pair and Scarlett is the perfect big sister !! As I see them interact and grow a friendship it reminds me of another perfect pair... one the sweet heart and one the spit fire. 

Oh watching my girls grow up together is gonna be fun!!

Strobelt Cabin Trip

After Christmas we always head up to the cabin for some fun in the snow. This year was a little different as we went up with the Strobelt clan instead of with the Camps. It was still a blast and we all had sad/heavy hearts when we left. Having too much fun can do that :)


We went skiing!! Nick went earlier in the day with his siblings. I took his jacket (with ticket) and went later in the day. So glad my tacky pea green snow suit still fits. My cute girly one was accidentally left at home... my bad:)

We strapped some skis on Scarlett and pushed her down the hill... not really but she loved it!

The start

The finish... she loved it!!

We spent an afternoon tubing. After every ride down Scarlett begged to go again. So glad we had a long two hours to go up and down.

We came home on Jan 31 and spent a super fun New Years with my family going bowling, eating food, and watching a Dispicable Me 2 on the big projector. Scarlett stayed up till 12 and helped us ring in the New Year with poppers and sparkling apple cider. Sorry no pics... sometimes life is too fun to stop and take a picture:) On to 2014 and all the adventures that await us!