The other day I was super busy cleaning up the house and Sophie decided that her and Frankie needed to be dancers. I left for a second to vaccuum the other room and when I came back in Sophie had Frankie dressed in the tutu that Lex made her for her birthday, and had her favorite station on the TV playing her music. Her and Frankie were dancing around the room together, and as you can see from the picture Sophie was jumping off the red couch.
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Project 52: week 5

This was from our trip outside today. She absolutely loves to be outside. It is so fun to see her discover new things, especially textures. Snow is totally blowing her mind right now, it is so funny. She will just sit there and stick her fingers in it, or grab some, and then watch it slowly disappear. Then after I have let her play in it for a bit too long she will start too whine since her poor hands are probably frozen.

Sophie actually took this picture for me. She gets all excited when I hand her the camera and ask her to snap a couple shots for me, super cute!!

The other day Greg and I were relaxing in our room for a minute and Sophie proudly announced that she wanted to watch Frankie for a minute. I heard Soph struggling with something and I came out of my room to make sure everyone was ok and this is what I found. Sophie had managed to plop her up into the booster at the table and they were getting ready to do some serious coloring. It was so freakin' cute and Sophie was so proud of herself. I think that Frankie looks so much like her Grandma Paula in that bottom picture. Geez, I have been so behind on posting and it still seems like I have so many to do. Yeah, I am so that mom who brags about every little thing that her kids do :)

This is video that Sophie and I dug up the other night from when we lived in Monterey (2004). Sophie was a little over a year old, and Bella was 3. Even though the girls and I went to the park in our neighborhood multiple times a day, we would take them again after Greg got home from work for more fun. I just love this video. First of all it is hilarious the way Greg is playing with the girls, but I LOVE Sophie's little voice. Notice how many times she says "look" after I point out the airplane to her. 12 to be exact. Then when I ask her if she wants to go play with Greg and Bella she says in her little teeny voice "I swinging." Oh my gosh it melts my heart! I so miss our days in CA. Maybe one day when we are filthy rich we can go back......(make sure you scroll down and turn off my playlist so you can hear her cute voice)

Finally!

The weather has been pretty decent for the last couple days so we just had to get outside! It was so funny! The kids seriously acted like they had never been outside in their lives. They were running up and down the road hooting and hollering, probably making the neighbors crazy since it was still kind of early. We also went to see the horses. Ella didn't like them too much since the last time I took them to see them one of the horses came up and sneezed really loud and scared the shiz out of her. She just kept saying that she wanted to leave :) I can't wait till the snow is gone. I love it when I can just let them go in and out as they please.
Mason is seriously the world's sweetest boy. He is ALWAYS making sure that Frankie is taken care of. Whenever she cries he is there to give her a toy or pat her on the head or try to calm her down however he can. He holds her hand when we are outside and walks with her, even though she can walk completely unassisted. There is this part of the sidewalk that is all cracked and it sort of freaked her out so he gently made sure that she gets across ok. My parents got Frankie this really cute little dump truck that she can ride on for her birthday and Mason pulled her all the way around the block yesterday very slowly so she wouldn't fall. I love it.
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Yes, that's my girl rockin' the raga-muffin look. Like I always say, I pick my battles :)

My amazingly talented friend Lex taught me how to make leg warmers and this is my first attempt at getting them done. These are socks that Sophie originally picked out for Frankie, but later decided that she had to have them. As you can see, they are horribly un-even, and I didn't gather the fabric so well in some places which made for some little holes on the outside. The sock on the right was done last night at the last minute (by the way Lex, I had to trash that pair that you first showed me how to make, after my mistake they were not fixable :) and I did have two red heads giving me some help. I think my second one is a little bit better, but it is too short. My sewing machine is a P.O.S. and you can't see it, but underneath the socks is a whole bunch of tangled strings. So, pretty lame first attempt, but I guess I will go ahead and admit that for being my first time, they are not too shabby.
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More chair pictures...

I love how you can still see Frankie smiling behind that huge passy. Then there is Bella, just looking way too grown up for my taste.
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Some fun deals....

I always love a good deal. I was shopping online the other day and Old Navy has really great prices in their "bargains" section for children's clothing. We're talkin' half price on almost everything. I like to buy things for next year when there are prices this good! Check it out.
Also, I am totally addicted to Target and sometimes I go there for no real reason, and I always come home with stuff that I am sure I do not need. I know most of you do the same. Anyway, I love. love. love. that dollar section that they normally have at the front of the store. They always have these cute little things like notebooks, pencils, magnets, and so on. I found the cutest, funkiest, colorful gift bags ever. Gift bags can get pricey, in fact the last one I bought for one of the girl's birthday parties was around $3.99, for a bag? So I bought 2 of each style and they are so freakin' cute:) They also have these cute little gift tags, thank you cards, and note pads. Again, really hip and modern. Love it! So I bought a bunch of those things too. They did have some tissue paper, which normally isn't that expensive, but it coordinated with the bags so I was forced to get some of that as well.
Bath and Body Works is having a sale on their anti-bacterial hand soap collections. I think they are normally $5, but they are now $3. I love their foam hand soaps since it is easy for the kids to wash off, not to mention they smell heavenly. I just so happened to be out of all that stuff at home so I bought a whole bunch of that too.
Hmmm, I thought there was one more thing....I will get back to that later since I have to get Bella off to school. Have a great day.

Test results

To remind everyone, when Sophie was at the doctor a couple weeks ago when she was super sick they did a whole bunch of tests, 2 of which (Epstein Barr virus, and Parvo B19), were going to take a couple weeks until we saw resluts. For those of you who are not aware of what Parvo B19 is I will give you a little bit of what I know. Parvo B19 are antibodies that one would develop if they have ever had Fifth's disease. When she first started with that rash a few weeks ago he said we could try to test her for the B19 antibodies to see if that was in fact what she had. She tested positive for that so that means that yes, she did have Fifth's disease. Here is a little of what I know regarding Epstein Barr....well, nevermind, just check out this link. Basically, Epstein-Barr turns into mono in most people. Some go one without any symptoms at all, others according to Dr. Kramer, can get very sick. Her fever, sore throat, swollen glands, vomiting, blah blah blah, was all due to this virus. Since she has been doing great. Her appetite is actually better than I have ever seen it, and she gained back all the weight that she lost, and then some. I am pretty sure that we all had the Fifth's disease, including Frankie, but Bella and Sophie were the ones who got really yucky and sick. I still keep holding my breath since Frankie never did get the stomach bug, but I think too much time has past and she is safe. YAY!

Project 52: week 4

My mom and I went out to Ogden on Saturday afternoon so that I could get some shots with my new ugly chair. I purposely took my mom since I was going into downtown Ogden and unfortunately there are quite a few questionable people roaming around, even on nice 25th street. So the first spot that I wanted to start at was busy, so we went on to this other spot, which is where this picture is from. We drove up and it looked fine, just an empty parking lot. What I didn't notice was the little junky hotel at the end of the parking lot. By the time I was all set up there were plenty of people that came out of their rooms to watch, and I hate to sound rude, but there were definitely some prostitutes, drug dealers, who knows what else (yes, I deserve to get slapped for sticking around). I didn't want to run away scared since, afterall, they are just people, but I didn't want to linger for too long either. When I was finishing up with Bella's shot this man, obviously homeless and possibly drunk, came walking by and yelled something to us. It didn't sound profane or anything, but I couldn't quite make out what it was. My mom was nice enough to shoot one of me with Frankie. I think we were out there for a total of 15 minutes and then we just had to be done, for safety reasons :) I can' wait to post more pictures that I got of the girls, they are so cute. Bella is looking so grown up in them. I used to get annoyed at the mom who takes a million pictures of her kids, but I am so that proud mommy now. Hey, is anyone else doing this little project? It really is fun!

A beautiful sunset

I forgot about these. The snow was just starting to come down.

SICK!

I have finally gotten sick. I was doing so good and I thought I was safe but I woke up this morning with a rash, a fever, and a yucky tummy ache. My headache started last night and is in full effect! Thank goodness I have the most wonderful husband ever and he is going to take care of my kids, and Mason and Ella today.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FRANKIE!!!

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Today Frankie turned 1! I feel a little bad about the whole party thing. It was sort of a tradition to have a first birthday bash with lots of friends, family and food. Since everyone was so sick we thought it would be a better idea to cancel, and don't get me wrong it totally was, but we really aren't doing anything for her birthday. We are having dinner tonight with Tina and my parents, and my friend made her this awesome cake, but it wasn't the huge celebration like I planned. As I am typing this the girls are putting up some decorations, it is pretty cute. I will post pictures of all that later. Oh well, at least she isn't at all aware of what happened, then I would feel really bad. She is officially a "walker." She almost runs everywhere! She knows some sign language and loves her big sisters. I cannot believe that her first year has already flown by, pretty crazy. Happy Birthday Frankie G, we love you so much! Oh yeah, isn't my new chair awesome?! Super ugly, definitely nothing I would ever have in my home, but it works for my photo purposes :) $5 bucks at DI baby!

Project 52: week 3

WOW! This has been a rough week! Sophie became extremely ill on Sunday night. She had vomiting that lasted till Wednesday. Poor thing couldn't even keep down water at times. She had a terrible fever and didn't even want to get out of bed :( I took her to the doctor and they ran a whole bunch of tests which all came back negative, thank goodness, except for the mono test, we won't know about that for a couple days! When I took her in to the doctor she had lost 3 pounds and the doctor said that if she kept on losing he wanted to hospitalize her and get her on IV fluids. 3 pounds may not seem like much but when you don't have a lot to work with it really shows. Her little face just seemed so small and her body was just teeny tiny. She is slowly getting her appetite back so that's good.
Now Bella is sick. I sent her to school Thursday and she was absolutely fine. By the time I picked her up she was getting sicker by the second. We got home and she immediately went to bed for about 2 hours. When she woke up I noticed that she was covered head to toe in the same rash that Sophie had 2 weeks ago. She had a fever and could barely even walk since she said she was "too heavy." She was throwing up all night and all this morning.
SO...I have 3 sick kids right now...Bella, Sophie, and Greg. Yes, Greg has come down with this yucky bug too. Frankie and I have been the lucky ones so far, I am going to knock on wood right now. We were supposed to have Frankie's 1st birthday bash on Valentine's Day but thought that we should just cancel since everyone is so sick. BUMMER!!!

So my Project 52 was sadly neglected this week. Today was a short work day for me and since Bella was home from school the girls and I went upstairs to hang in their room and read some books. I set up my tripod and just let the camera click away. Lots of photos for this week, I thought they were all so cute I had a hard time picking just one. I am really glad that I am doing this little project for myself. It is nice to know that I actually do exist in my kids lives and I think that they will one day appreciate it too.
FYI-If you were going to come to Frankie's party and I didn't already talk to you, it is canceled!

SERIOUSLY?!

Doesn't anyone want to try out this craft challenge? Ya'll are lame :)

Sounds like fun!

My friend Lex had this post on her blog and I decided to join along... I know a lot of people are going to be hesitant but I think it's a really fun idea!

How am I crafting it forward? For the first 3 commenters for this post, I will send you a handmade craft from me! Then you agree to post about this on your blog and show the love as well by linking back to me and crafting it forward yourself to the first 3 commenters on YOUR post. You have 30 days to make and send your item and you can set your own price. Also, don't forget to blog about the item you receive. Sounds fun, right! (If you are one of the first 3, I'll need you're email to get in touch with you) If you're not one of the first 3 to comment, you can still craft it forward yourself.

Please comment, even if I have no idea who you are :)! This sounds like a lot of fun and will force us to take a few minutes and be creative! Have fun!

So I have the world's sickest Sophie. Poor thing has been through hell the last couple weeks! It all started with a rash that really never went away, and very early yesterday morning she came down to get in bed with me and she was burning up! That progressed into a headache, now she has diarrhea, and she has been throwing up all night. The doctor does not think the rash has anything to do with her current symptoms, but I just don't think I am convinced. Nobody else is sick, or has ever gotten the rash. So why just Sophie? I get so paranoid and then start to freak myself out thinking she has some weird condition. I just hope that we all stay so lucky and don't catch the bug too. My weekly photo is just going to have to wait for now, along with so many other things. I am just glad that Greg is home so that one of us can give her the attention that she needs.

See what I mean!?

Same spot, different night.

Coupon Mom

I don't normally watch Oprah, but I do look at her website often and came across this topic that she featured on her show the other day. The show was all about the thriftiest families in America and their money saving tips. There was this lady on the show and she calls herself "Coupon Mom" and she is this crazy coupon clipping, money saving genius! So I decided to check out her site and see if it would be of use to me.
Every Sunday, I make a menu for the following week that includes 3 meals for every day along with snacks in between. It makes life easier especially with my day care that way I always have a plan and am never spending and wasting lots of time trying to figure out what to feed everyone. I always try to base my menus off of things that I already have in my cabinets so that way I am not buying crap that I do not need. I normally shop at the base grocery store so I am already saving, but with coupon mom's site she has tons of free printable coupons. The other thing I noticed is that for the state of Utah she featured Smith's grocery store and highlights what all their in store specials are. You can also find coupons for these specials and save even more. SO....I think what I am going to try for next shopping trip is base my list off of coupons and in store specials and see just how much I can save. I have never used coupons in my life so I am excited to try it out and see what happens. Is it bad when you get excited over grocery shopping with coupons? Click here for her website! I know I am a super dork!

My beautiful Bell, looking so grown up. For the longest time Bella could care less about the clothes she wore, or what her hair looked like. She had her own sense of style and was proud of it. This week something changed. All of a sudden she wanted her hair to be just right, and she has asked that I help her pick out her outfits. I remember that I used to get so frustrated when she picked out her own clothes, something that started before she even turned 2. I would buy her these adorable outfits and she would never wear anything together, and she had no concept of coordinating colors. She would wear tennis shoes with her pretty dresses, tank tops with bulky sweaters underneath, etc. I chose to pick my battles on that issue. But she still looked so cute, no matter what she wore, and it was fun to see how proud of herself she was. Now it seems I have gotten my way and I don't think I like it! She just looks way too grown up. I have been looking through all my old pictures and I feel so sad! It seems like I blinked and Bella and Sophie have gone from babies to big girls. SAD!

I took this picture this morning before we left for school. See what I mean? She just looks way too old to me! The scarf was all her idea too. It is my scarf and it was really sweet the way she asked me if I thought it would go with her outfit or not.

Frankie's newest discovery...

Ah, yes, the dishwasher. I new it was coming and I was so not looking forward to it. What is so exciting about the dishwasher anyway? Is it the many compartments full of exciting forks and spoons that are just waiting to be thrown on the floor? Is it the way the door bounces when you jump up and down as hard as you can? I don't know....but for whatever reason this is Frankie's new favorite place. One by one she throws everything within her reach onto the floor and will look at me after each time to check and see if I am going to make her stop. And I am paranoid about putting the dishes that she has thrown everywhere away so I wash them all over again, ugh, it is exhausting. Finally, I have to drag her away. She is pretty good at throwing little tantrums now, too. When you go to pick her up she goes all limp and collapses her shoulders so that you almost drop her on her face, know what I mean? I have a really hard time saying NO to this girl, I think we all do, so I am seeing lots of dishes in my future.....

Best friends

Daisy really is the sweetest dog in the world. She mothers this cat and has taken such good care of her since Santa (wink wink) brought her to our home. She makes sure she is clean after she eats, drags her away by the neck when she is being naughty, and keeps her cozy and warm every night. This is their spot every night after we have all gone to bed. Then sometime during the night Serafina decides to come into our bedroom and torture Greg and I.

Just when I thought she couldn't get any cuter......

um......yeah.....she totally can! I cannot believe that she is going to be 1 in less than 2 weeks!

This is what she is up to lately:
I learned yesterday the hard way that Frankie is absolutely terrified of the car wash. She was already in a really bad mood, but as soon as we got in the tunnel and those blue swishy thingies started hitting the car she freaked out! So she was screaming bloody murder, the kids were all laughing, screaming and singing in excitement, and I just had to close my eyes and tell myself that it would all be over soon. Then when I got out to vacuum the car I had to hold her to get her to calm down. When I went to get the vacuum out of its holder it made this horrible noise that even scared me and she started screaming all over again. I was determined to get the freakin' car cleaned so we both just had to tough it out.
Ok, back to Frankie...sorry....
She now walks all over without anyone's help. She can get pretty far too, but then she gets excited and tries to run and usually ends up doing some sort of a face plant. She loves to climb up and down the stairs too, but she has been doing that for awhile, I guess.
And this girl loves her some baby dolls! I have some pictures somewhere that I need to dig up, but she is oh so sweet with them. We have a baby doll that cries and her cheeks get red and whenever Frankie hears that she rushes up to it and pats it and gives it these wide open mouth watery kisses. SO CUTE!!!
I just asked Sophie what she thought I should tell you all about and she said "she hits!" Yes she does! Bella and Sophie never really hit, never have either, but Frankie...not so much. She loves to smack you dead in the face, sometimes for no reason at all. I try really hard not to laugh, but her face is just too funny after she does it. She loves to pull Bella and Sophie's hair too, and it doesn't help that they think it is hilarious because once they start laughing she keeps on doing it. Ugh, I am in trouble!
She rides in a front facing car seat and thinks it is pretty awesome.
She started drinking whole milk on Monday. She does use a sippy cup all through the day and I am really trying to get serious about taking away the bottles, but she isn't having that at all yet. Oh well, she is still little and I have lots of time for that.

Project 52: week 2

Me and Sophie enjoying some 1 on 1 time while everyone is at school. I think we both look forward to that time each week!

New car seat

We bought Frankie a new car seat yesterday since she meets all the criteria to be a front facer in the car now. She looks so little in that big seat!