April Adventures

 Aunt Amy made both kids new swimsuits. It wasn't warm enough for swimming in April, but there was enough sunshine for us to dream.

 We made our first zoo trip of the year. It was a beautiful day, and all of the animals were out enjoying the sunshine. When I asked Sarah what she wanted to see at the zoo, her instant answer was meerkats.  She didn't want to look at anything else until we found them.

 Feeding the sheep

 Going down the big giraffe slide all by herself

 Can't go to the zoo without at least one ride on the carousel!

 Thank goodness for that glass!

 Chris made it up on hands and knees!

 Such hard work!

 Chris went for his first ride in a shopping cart.

 The weekend before Easter, we got to spend lots of fun time with family. Jehana and her family came to visit for a few days. Kelson took their family as well as our kids to see a little of Boise while I was in the temple with my family. They loved playing with the magformers at the library. 

 Katy went to the temple for the first time, and we all got to be there for her special day. It was such a great experience to be in the temple with my whole family. 

 Afterwards, we came back to our house for some seriously amazing dessert. That is a brownie layer topped with layers of chocolate, raspberry, and vanilla mousse, topped with ganache, fresh raspberries, and raspberry sauce. It was delicious. Definite Pinterest win.

 The next weekend was my birthday. The best present Kelson gave me was to take Sarah the day before my birthday so my Mom, Chris, and I could spend a day thrift shopping in Boise. We had so much fun! It will be even better when I can leave both kids.

 For my birthday dinner, we had a crepe bar. So good! We had savory toppings for dinner followed by sweet toppings for dessert. Who needs a birthday cake?

Kelson gave me this CD case for my birthday. What do you think is in Emily's mix?

 Chocolate, of course! He knows me so well.

Gardening 2017: Signs of Spring

The snow of early 2017 finally melted away in March, and the world emerged from a winter that featured 50+ inches of snow in this area for the first time in decades.

Things went back to normal, and Spring was ushered in by its ambassadors: crocuses. 

Then came the tulips.

And finally the apple blossoms.

We were so excited to see everything coming to life!

Easter With Family

After lots of Easters spent so far from family, we were so excited to be together with them this year. My dad loves dying Easter eggs. His holiday specialties were always Easter eggs and jack-o-lanterns when I was growing up. It is so fun to see him doing those things with his grandkids now.

 We dyed eggs with Grandma and Grandpa and all of the cousins on Saturday night. I think they did about 10 dozen. There were a lot of messy, happy kids that night.

 Sunday morning, the Easter bunny had come with our baskets! Sarah was very excited about her puffy stickers and chocolate bunny.

 We went to church in Union with all of my mom's family. Getting a decent picture of all of us is apparently really difficult.

 Doing a little flying with Grandma and Aunt Katy

 After church, we went to my Uncle Donny's house for the big Baxter family Easter dinner and egg/basket hunt. This was one of my favorite traditions growing up, and I loved sharing it with my little family this year. My favorite moment was after dinner when we were all watching a short film about the resurrection of Christ, and Sarah shouted, "Jesus came back to life! That's why we have Easter!".  Some of our teaching is sticking!

 Sarah loved collecting the Easter eggs.

 I made Sarah a very twirly, poofy, Easter dress this year. When I tried it on her the first time, she twirled for about 5 straight minutes and kept saying, "It's so wonderful!". Sewing for a princess is fun.

Chris got a green bow tie to match Sarah's dress. Of course I forgot to bring it with us on Easter. Oops.

We had a wonderful Easter with our family. The best part was teaching Sarah about why we celebrate Easter and that because our Savior rose from the dead we can be together as a family forever. 

Chris: 7 Months

Chris at 7 months:

• He has tried lots of solid foods now and is no longer happy with just milk. His favorite is squash or yams mixed with apples and a little cinnamon.
• Sleeping much better, which makes Mommy very happy.
• Has mastered getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth. We will have a crawler soon! For now, he makes his way around the room by squirming around like a snake. Slow, but effective.
• Can sit on his own, but has no interest in doing so. He would rather be on his tummy playing with toys, so he flings himself down when you try to make him sit.
• Loves his sister! Everything she does is funny.
• Has a bit of stranger danger, particularly around other women. His short list of people he likes include Mommy, Grandma, Aunt Katy, and Aunt Jehana.
• We thought the blue eyes would fade, but I think they just keep getting more blue. Weird!
• Chris has become such a happy little boy. We love him!

March Madness

March was a fun month at our house. The snow finally started melting, which meant we could actually escape our house on occasion. 

 Sarah loves her animals. She put the baby bird up on the windowsill to look outside, so obviously the mama bird had to be there to take care of her baby.

 Chris is our cuddler. Grandma is always good for a cuddle.

 Annie and Sarah made Grandma a fancy cake for her birthday.

 Chris does not like to sleep right now, particularly if we are at Grandma's house. This was such a magical moment that I had to capture it.

 We spent a day at Grandma's house and made our first park trip of the season. Sarah got to swing and eat a nutella sandwich at the same time. Can life get better than that?

 Chris tried out the swings for the first time. It's a serious moment in a boy's life.

 Chris tried his first bite of solid food at Grandma's house. Yummy avocado!

 We started our garden in March (separate post to come on that!). Chris and I had fun watching Daddy with the rototiller.

 Chris loves bath time!

 Kelson ran a 10K in Adrian. The kids and I cheered from the sidelines. 

 Sarah gave Daddy an unprompted back scratch while he was stretching.

 3rd place! That trophy is massive and heavy. It gets to live on Kelson's desk at work.

 One of the spaces that has been needing some work since we moved in is my sewing space in the bonus room over our garage.

 Kelson and I built a 2-part desk, a huge window seat, and a bookcase that fit perfectly in the space. I love my new sewing room! The only hiccup was when we moved the bookcase in and realized we had accidentally built it 5 inches too tall. It wouldn't fit under the low ceiling, so we had to cut it down. Apparently there is something to that whole measure twice, cut once thing.

 Sarah's curls are awesome, but they were getting out of control. It was time for her first trim. She was pretty nervous at first, but she eventually warmed up to it and had a great time.

 Beautiful girl!

We got to stop at Arctic Circle for lunch because she was so brave for the hairdresser. I just love my little Shirley Temple!

Chris: 6 Months

Update time: Chris celebrated his half birthday!

Chris at 6 Months:

• 27 inches tall (65th percentile) and 16 pounds 11 ounces (38th percentile). He has always tended to be just a little taller and a little skinnier than average with slightly larger than average head.  Sarah outweighed him by 3 pounds at this age. 
• Spent another month never sleeping and then finally gave in and decided to sleep the day before his 6 month birthday. He went from never napping and waking up 10 times every night to suddenly taking 3 good naps and waking up once or twice. Please don't let this be a fluke. 
• If he is on the floor, he automatically rolls to his tummy. It is easier to find things to play with and stick in his mouth that way. He also sleeps on his tummy. However, he still can't roll back the other way, so he eventually screams for help to roll over.
• Tried his first solid food: avocados. He is very jealous of anyone who eats around him and tries to steal food. 
• He has mastered hair pulling. Sarah is a perfect target with all those curls.
• His pacifier has been mostly abandoned.
• Drools everywhere.
• Such a happy, smiley boy!