A Birthday...

You can count the candles...eeek! So excited for this year!

Asher at Two

Little Buddy was plenty spoiled this year with the presents. He loved his Karaoke machine, doodle mat, bath toys (a "ehpane" and "bot"), he was also thrilled with his new track for his cars since that is his obsession.  Mostly these days you can find him with two or more cars clutched in his chubby little hands.

  

Another favorite is trains, so we decided to take him down to the Heber Creeper for the Polar Express.  He was thrilled to be on a real "choo-choo"

This little guy can be quite the ham when he wants, he still prefers to let his true personality mostly shine at home in his comfort zone, but he has begun to open up around others and show off his daring ways.  We have had a hard time the last few months, Asher has really wanted to talk and feel understood and his pronunciation was just not quite up to others patience level so we have endured some tantrums of frustration and crankyness from our usually easy going little buddy.  Luckily, it seems that we have turned a corner with verbalization and he is starting to get much more articulate.  Although he still is as stubborn as can be it is a relief that he finally feels understood and can be reasoned with a bit more.

To get us through the hard times we are all very happy that Asher has his beloved blanket.  This boy is like Linus with that thing.  If I would let him, he would drag it all around with him everywhere we went.  He has by far been my best sleeper due to the fact that the minute you hand him his beloved blanky he will cuddle up and lay down.  Asher is a sweet cuddly boy and he loves to "nuggle" with blanket and anyone else who will sit with him!

Little Ash is such a sweet part of our family.  He keeps us all laughing and on our toes with his antics, but he adds such a special joy. We just love this little boy!

Beary Fun

Four Year Old Interview

What's your favorite color?  Pinkish Purple
What is your favorite toy? My new Lalaloopsy and my Kitty
What is your favorite food? Strawberries and Watermelon
What is your favorite T.V. show? Lalaloopsy
What is your favorite outfit? My owl outfit (that we just bought today...pretty much anything new is her favorite)
What is your favorite game? My Bear string (lacing cards)
What is your favorite song? ABC's and Beautiful World (Heavenly Father Loves Me)
What is your favorite book? The Cat in the Hat
What's your favorite holiday? Christmas
What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play on the Jumpoline
Who is your best friend? Olivia
What is your favorite dinner? Honey and Bread
Where's your favorite place to go? Chik-fil-a or McDonalds
What is your favorite animal? Kitty Cat
What makes you happy? Shows,and fireworks
What makes you sad? When Asher fights with me (this mostly means when he doesn't obey her!)
What do you want to be when you grow up? A mama

We were pretty chill about Chiara's birthday this year, pretty much throwing together something last minute a few weeks before so that Stuart could be there for her party.  What little girl doesn't love a cuddly friend and a tea party? So we went to Build a Bear at the Mall (she chose a pink and purple bear that she named Fluffy. Asher "chose" under daddy's direction "Dude" the camo bear) and then we (Reagan,Grace, Maddie and their sisters and moms) had a tea party at our house right after.  

Chiara's big present this year was this kitchen

which was also a pretty big hit at the party.

For her actual birthday we had a girls night with Kelly, Reagan, Meagan, and Grace and went out to Disney on Ice.  Chiara loved it!

She also opened some presents from family:

First Barbie! (and one exhausted girl!)

THANK YOU GRANDMA!

So fun to celebrate four fun filled years of this little girl's life.  She is so sweet and really has a very pure heart.  She tries so hard not to make mistakes and has a real desire to do the right thing. She also has quite the imagination and sense of humor.  She loves to have fun and will happily agree to do just about anything as long as she can do it with her "friends" of all ages. She has a fantastic memory and can recite almost every book that is read to her word for word and she also remembers past events and friends with astonishing clarity.  As part of this she sometimes misses her life in South Carolina but it makes it easy for her to learn and remember new things.  One of her favorite things is to hear the story of how everyone in our family was born, as well as the story of how Stuart and I got married.  She really loves her "aunties" which includes all her aunts and uncles and prays for them by name at night and asks when they can come over. She is such a great big sister.  She is always so anxious to help with Asher and Navy Adele and gets very worried if she senses anything amiss with them.  She is also super snuggly and loves to be touching and touched.  One of her favorite treats is to climb in bed with Mama and Daddy and snuggle.  She makes up funny songs in the car and loves to talk, unless she meets someone new.  She is still our shy little girl and gets embarrassed easily, but she tries very hard to be brave and make new friends.  Her personality is so bright and fun and I have loved getting to know it even more this year!

She is becoming such a little lady!

Asher Turns One!

December 12th, 2012

Chiara is a "Big Girl"

Three Year Old Interview:

What's your favorite color?  Pink
What is your favorite toy? My babies and friends (her dolls and stuffed animals)
What is your favorite food? Strawberries and Milk
What is your favorite T.V. show? Dora
What is your favorite outfit? My princess dress (this is any dress)
What is your favorite game? Candyland with Daddy
What is your favorite song? ABCDEFG
What is your favorite book? I Love You Through and Through
What's your favorite holiday? My birthday
What is your favorite thing to do outside? Swim and drive my B-B-Q (her Barbie Jeep)
Who is your best friend? Livvy cuz Asher's best friend is Brigham
What is your favorite dinner? Pizza Rolls and Caffeine (lately that's what she calls soda because I am always saying she can't share mine because it has caffeine~whoops)
Where's your favorite place to go? The Park and the fair and to see Grandma
What is your favorite animal? A chinchilla (we call her chinchilla girl and she saw one on Diego and thinks it's "so cute")
What makes you happy? When my daddy comes home
What makes you sad? When my best friend Livvy said "you can't never, never,never come play with me" and you didn't let me go to her house.
What do you want to be when you grow up? A butterfly princess 

When I asked Chiara what kind of Birthday Party she wanted she just said two things: "Pink Lalaloopsy and I have to have to wear a princess dress". So we kept things pretty simple but she had soo much fun!  

Olivia, Brynlee, Soren, and Macy

We just had her 5 favorite friends over for basically cake and ice cream.  We decided to get her some Lalaloopsy coustumes since she is pretty much into dressing up everyday. The girls spent awhile dressing up, then everyone colored a Lalaloopsy coloring page, then made a bracelet out of pipe cleaners and beads. We ate cake and called it good.  Pure Bliss for my girly girl:

Some of you may wonder what a Lalaloopsy is.  It's basically a doll (that Chiara has like 10 of) Each doll character was created with a fictional theme, reflecting the day she is born, the fabric she is sewn from, and her pet. According to the site: rag dolls that magically came to life after the last thread was sewn. Each doll supposedly has its own personality which comes from the fabrics with which they are made. They are designed to teach kids that everybody is unique in their own special way. The brand promotes the idea that old things can become new again, everything can be repurposed and nothing should ever go to waste. The dolls were, designed to encourage a child's imagination and creativity and teach important life lessons such as diversity, individuality and the idea that everything deserves a second life. 

Pillow Featherbed: Sewn from a baby’s blanket.

Mittens Fluff ‘N’ Stuff: Sewn from an Inuit’s scarf

Crumbs Sugar Cookie: Sewn from the scraps of a baking apron

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Spot Splatter Splash: Sewn from a painter’s overalls.

28 is Great!

I can't help thinking how much Stuart and I have grown up since we got married.  It's so fun to see how confident Stuart has become as he runs his business and fathers our little tots.  This year we celebrated his birthday together with a fun camping trip.

 There's nothing quite like camping on the beach surrounded by palms!

 This weirdo deer came and begged for food at our campsite.

 Fun with friends!

We finally got to break out our Dutch oven and enjoyed yummy potatoes for dinner and a Mountain Man breakfast!

Hunting Island has this beautiful lighthouse.  I didn't particularly enjoy going to the top (too scary!) but it was breathtaking (literally!)  

 Stuart and Chiara enjoyed a competitive game of Candyland (Thanks Mom Larsen!)

 And here is the Birthday boy sporting some of his new threads (Lucky guy got a whole new wardrobe!)

 I love you Stuart!  You are my best friend and I always have so much fun when you are home!  This was no exception.  Happy Birthday!