Scrap Booking

This past week I decided it was time to start scrap booking. Like I have said, I'm really not that creative when it comes to this department, so I have avoided at all costs. Since I started blogging, I thought it would be easier to start scrap booking since the pictures and words are already done for me. So I took the leap and became a digital scrap booker. I signed up for Snapfish and uploaded my pictures and finished my first scrapbook. It took me three days to sort and write and edit my 150 page book. It is ordered and on it's way to my house. I can't wait to get it and look through it. It was so simple that I even started my next scrapbook. I have three more to do, plus a book of Ashton's preschool work. I'm well on my way to finishing all my scrap booking before the Kaylynn arrives. No I'm not designing my own pages on Adobe Photoshop, but I'm getting a little better with each one I do. So far I am loving it and am glad I finally got started. Now I can scrapbook once a month and be up to date in no time.

Valentine Decoration

Well, since I spent the weekend making Valentine crafts, it only made sense to decorate my house too. I have always been good about decorating my house for all the Holidays, but since we moved I haven't been doing as well. So it's a new year and I'm starting it off by decorating for Valentines day. Ashton was so excited to get out all the decorations, he helped me in every room. It's not much, but just enough to spread some Valentine love. My new crafts made a wonderful addition to our decorations.

Valentine Craft

This past weekend, my friend Amber invited the girls to her house for a craft day. She had four options of cute Valentine crafts and a light lunch. Of course, I had to do all four crafts because they were so cute. Krystle was nice enough to watch Ashton for me and I know the boys had a blast. I got three of the four crafts done, but wanted to share them anyway. It was so much fun to have a girl day and feel crafty. These are not things I think of on my own, so when someone makes it easy, I'm there. It was also nice to meet new people. Thanks Amber for a wonderful afternoon.





This is the one I haven't finished yet. I copied the picture from her facebook page. I love them all, so cute!

Crafts

Back in October my Relief Society group had a super Saturday craft activity. I was out of town that weekend, but still bought the supplies so that I could do that crafts at home. Well it has been several months and I have been moving these supplies around knowing that eventually I would get to it. I decided today was the day to finally get them done. Luckily I still had a picture of what they should look like so that I would know what to do. Now that they are done, I am so excited to have them. They are wonderful little decorative additions to our home. Next time I won't wait three months to complete it, but as you know its been a busy few months!

Project Weekend

This past weekend my Mom, Dad, and Taryn came up to visit. They came to help me decorate and paint both the kids bedroom. My dad painted both of their rooms while my mom and I worked on the rest. This was a huge project and I am so excited that it is done (for the most part). We painted Kaylynn's room a light lavender color and then placed scattered white daisies around the room. My mom made curtains to match all of her bedding that we made. She also made the changing table pad and the lamp shade. Her room turned out so adorable, I absolutely LOVE it! The lightening isn't great in the pictures, I will have to take another group of pictures with different lighting, so that just means that you need to come and see it for yourself! :)

For Ashton's room, I tried to incorporate all the things he loves. So, I decided to paint the walls green and blue and I found a truck and tractor wall paper border to tie in the two colors. I also bought Ashton new furniture to go with his new room. While putting the furniture together, we found that it had been damaged during shipping. So I am waiting for replacement parts in order to finish his dresser. I will include one picture of his bed to shoe the paint and wall paper. As soon as I get the missing pieces, I can post pictures of the rest of his room. His room also turned out perfect and I LOVE it! Their rooms are now my favorite rooms in the house.

I have to thank my parents for all their help this weekend. I could not have done this project without them! Thank you so much for coming, helping, and spending time with us. We always love having you here and appreciate all the help you gave.

Fun week with Ashton

As anyone living on the west coast knows, we have had a stormy week! It was cold, windy, and raining most of the week. This means no park or outside play, which means I had to be extra creative to keep Ashton entertained. Even though we do a lot of playing every week, sometimes its just fun to remember the fun week we had.

Monday was a holiday so I decided it would be fun to go to the movies. Ashton and I saw the Princess and the Frog and we loved it. He sat through the whole movie and really liked the frogs. When the movie was over he said "more frogs mom, see it again." I think we will have to buy it when it comes out. We had a lot of fun and Ashton was the perfect little date.

The next day Krystle called and asked us to meet her, Luke, and Dan at Chucky Cheese. Of course we said yes! Ashton can actually play a lot of the games so he loves going there. It was fun to see the boys running around like crazy just laughing and having fun.

Then we had a stay at home day. I wanted to get some sewing done so we played some games and hung out at home. I am pretty sure that every single toy and game we owned was out and played with during the course of the day. Sometimes it is just nice to be home, all warm and comfortable and enjoy the rain.

The next two days we had play dates with several of our friends. Ashton looks forward to these days, as do I. I get to have adult conversation and Ashton gets to work out his giggles and energy. Then my parents and little sister came to visit for the weekend, but that is its own post.

Despite the fact that we had lots of rainy and cold days, we still managed to have a blast. Ashton also got new church clothes this past week and he was so cute on Sunday, I had to take a picture of him, He looks so handsome all dressed up. He even got new shoes. I especially love that he poses for pictures now, he is just too cute!

Spring Reserve

Since Ashton and I have spent most of the week staying at home, I decided we needed to get out of the house and do something different. One of the things I miss about Southern California is that there are so many parks and attractions to take your kids too. Even though there are a lot of parks and hiking, there aren't a lot of attractions meant for kids. One of the attractions they do have is the Spring Reserve. It showcases the desert and its wildlife and also gives you the history of Las Vegas. They had several kid areas where they could run around and play as well as trails and tours. If anything, it's a great place to let your kid run around and expense some energy, even if he can't appreciate the wonderful information that is there. Ashton had a lot of fun seeing the rabbits and lizards, as well as playing in the kid areas. I feel like there was a lot we didn't see, but it was fun to walk around and see another side of Vegas. I am very tempted to buy the year pass so that I can keep taking Ashton back and try new trails and exhibits. I know he had a blast and it wore him out, which is hard to do. It was a fun day and something we will definitely go back and do again.

Upcoming Projects

Lately I have been feeling like we haven't really been doing anything blog worthy and so I have been sitting her thinking about what we have been doing since our vacation. I realize that we have had a lot of play dates so that Ashton and I can catch up with friends. I also took on the project of decorating both the kids rooms. So I have been buying furniture, looking at wallpaper, and picking out paint colors. I did not know how hard of a task I was taking on. Thank heavens my parents are coming to help me paint next weekend and pull it all together. Of course I can't post pictures of this enormous project until its complete, but wanted to take note of what I've been working on. Each day I'm getting a little further, but if it seems like we aren't out as much playing, it is because we are inside working and playing in the kids room. I know they will both turn out so wonderful, but I can't wait for this project to be done! For now, I did get the crib put together and the bedding on. Yes I'm missing the crib sheet, but its on its way. It just looks so beautiful, I had to share.

Kaylynn's 22 Week Appointment

This week I had my twenty-two week check up. Yes I'm officially over the half way hump, I can't believe how fast it is going. Although these appointments are short, I always love hearing the heart beat and knowing that we are moving along right on track. Kaylynn is doing great and everything is progressing as it should. She is big enough now that I feel her moving around everyday. She has really strong legs, which reminds me a lot of Ashton at this stage. I love being to the point where you can feel the baby moving, it helps me rest easy that she is doing well. It also tells me that I have another active baby on the way. This is no surprise seeing as Aaron and I are very active parents and we all know Ashton has the energy of at least five people. I have gained 9 1/2 pounds (not my favorite part of being pregnant) and feeling great. Trina teases me that I'm in my nesting phase because I always running around trying to get a million things done at once. What can I say, I like to keep busy and feel accomplished :). Ashton's been a trooper and has gone with me to almost every doctors appointment. He gets so excited to either see the baby or hear her heartbeat. It's not always easy to take him, but he really enjoys it. He is even kissing my belly now and saying hi to his little sister. Let's hope that love and compassion continues once she arrives!

*Yes I had to do my own self portrait again and this time it wasn't as easy. Not the most flattering pictures of myself, but it shows my belly's progress. Yes you can finally see that I am pregnant!

Ashton and his Scooter

While Ashton and I were visiting my parents, he decided he would learn how to ride a scooter all by himself. I have been trying to get him to ride a bike and he hasn't shown much interest, but loves being pushed around on the scooter. His uncle Trenton showed him how to do by himself and away he went. Since Ashton got a bike from Santa, I went to the after Christmas sale and found an awesome deal on a cute little red scooter. He rode it all over my parents house and now that we are home we take it to the park with us and he rides around in between playing on the slides. I couldn't believe he is really balancing well enough to do it. I just think he is so cute and its so fun to watch him. We are making progress on the bike, but he prefers to run around with his scooter. There is one picture and one video clip of him on his scooter at the park. My little Ashton is just getting so big!