Ella turns ONE

Ella it's still a little crazy to me to think that it's been a whole year since you were born.  The days just seem to fly by and as much as I love watching you learn and grow it makes me a little sad as well.  You're getting so big and growing up that I know around the corner is lurking with less cuddles, less cute tantrums, less slobbery baby kisses, less baby babbles, and less of wanting me but instead wanting Dad.  I know there will be lesses in our future but I also know that with the less brings on more.  I can't wait to see you accomplish all that is in store for you.  For now though we will focus on all that you did in your first year of life.

Here are some of my favorite things/things I don't want to forget.

* Your smile and that you started smiling super early.
* Your love for Kody.
* That you love saying Dog, which kind of sounds like Dad.  It's super adorable and it's the only word you consistently say.
* Recently you've started carrying around a baby, barbie, or stuffed animal cuddled up in your arms and I just love it.
* The fact that I can count on you crying every single time you get your bum changed, you get dressed or undressed and when you get put in the car seat to be buckled in.  You do not like being told what to do and I would be lying if I didn't say that it kind of scares me for the future.
* Your scoot instead of crawling.
* How excited you get when Dad comes home.
* That you will play and entertain yourself.
* Your excitement over horses.
* That you are attached to your blanket and have been since about 6 months. Recently you've started handing it to me when I come and get you out of bed.  It's super cute.
* How you have to taste everything by poking your tongue out a little bit before you will eat anything.
* The impatient cries when you see a smoothie, or a treat.
* That you started eating solids at 4 months because you were always trying to steal a taste of our food.
* Your laugh! And that you think it's funny when we start laughing so you force out more laughs even if it's totally fake.
* Your babbling
* Your curly hair.  It was pretty curly when you were little and now it's just the back of your hair that goes a little curly but it's so cute.
* Speaking of hair, I love the red tint your hair has.
* Your love for water.  Bath time is definitely a favorite of yours and you get so excited.
* How you love to plop yourself right in front of the vacuum every time I'm vacuuming the floor.
* That you love playing and rocking in the little wooden rocking chair.
* That you are always trying to drink out of Heidi's water bottle instead of yours.
* How you get into EVERYTHING. I am constantly telling you no, or redirecting you because get into everything or are constantly trying to touch things that you shouldn't.
* How you went through a phase of pulling/running your hand through my hair while you nursed.
* The fact that I have only trimmed your finger and toenails a few times during this year because you scream bloody murder and I'm afraid of the neighbors calling the cops on me.
* That you like your sleep.  When you are ready for bed we all get to hear about it.  You are like a light switch when it comes to sleep.  One minute you're happy and fine and the next your are crazy crying and the only thing you want is to nurse and go to sleep.
* Once you fell asleep on Dad while he was giving you a shower.  It was the sweetest thing.
* That you love to dance.  If we stop you bounce up and down to tell us to keep going.
* How you were always so happy and smiling that I would often say that you loved life.
* Your love for being outside.
* That you still don't completely sleep through the night.
* Ah speaking of sleep when you were still really little you would cry from 8-11pm.  I could not figure out why you would not sleep and just cried and cried.  I don't remember how long it was (I think it was months, luckily you didn't cry like that the whole time though), but we finally figured you out a little bit and realized that you like your sleep and that you wanted an earlier bed time.

Well now that I've had this post written for awhile I think I'll just post it instead of trying to add more.  We LOVE our little Ella girl and sure are glad that you are in our family. 

Songs with Meaning

I  know I haven't written here in ages but I want a way to record a few songs that have meaning to us. It's funny how when you hear a song it triggers a memory, an emotion or just makes you want to get up and dance.  I have so many songs that do this to me and no matter where I am when I hear that song I'm taken back to a moment in time or a era of my life.  I LOVE these feelings and I love having something that triggers those emotions and brings back memories.  For our little family we have a few songs that we like to call our songs so here they are.
I've linked all of the songs to youtube but I am not a fan of music videos (other than the girls with glasses video) so just listen to the songs instead of watching the video.

- Zac Brown Band - Whatever It Is
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RJrNnRpVHg
This song always takes me back to our wedding.  The day that we made a huge step and were sealed for time and eternity.  I love having this song to remember our wedding. Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo'Ole also reminds me of our wedding, but I don't often play it and tell Heidi that this is Mom and Dad's song like with Whatever It Is.

- The Girls With Glasses - Lady Gaga - Million Reasons (We're Late) Mom Parody
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcZ5iWtHlYQ
I've dubbed this song as my theme song and quite honestly it has actually helped me.  I've struggled with this postpartum time and for some reason this song always speaks to me and helps me to feel better.  It's weird and awesome all at the same time.  I love this song.

- Charlie Puth - One Call Away
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxuY9FET9Y4
This song is Chase and Heidi's (or Chase and all of kids) song.  I love that whenever she hears this song she gets all excited and very excitedly explains "Mom, it's my and Dad's song."  She loves this song.  We will randomly hear her singing this song up in her bed if she's sad and has been reminded that she can sing songs if she's sad.  It's the cutest thing ever.  I love that Chase heard this song and wanted this song to be their song so that as she gets older she will always know that her Dad is only one call away.

Colbie Caillat - Never Gonna Let You Down
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJVv5kjOJhU
I've been wanting a song to have with Heidi or both of my girls and I've finally decided that this is the one.  I always want my girls to know that I will always be there for them.  I hope that they will always know this.

Bob Marley - Don't Worry About a Thing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYi5aW1GdUU
This song has been a song that get's sung in our house often.  I find myself often referencing this song about anything and everything to Heidi which then makes us start singing, which then leads to dancing and singing loudly to this song.  I love how this song just makes us happy and helps us to remember to not sweat the small stuff.

Now I just need to keep adding songs as we gain more family songs, especially if we decide each kid gets their own song instead of sharing.  I also know I have more songs I just don't have time to dig through my memory right now 😜

Heidi's 1st Birthday

I can't believe how fast kids grow up.  I have a love hate relationship with it.  I love watching Heidi learn new things and I love watching her little personality shine more and more each day.  On the other hand it makes me sad because of how much I've already forgotten.  Heidi I have loved being your mom and I am so glad that we got to celebrate you on a such a special day.  You made your dad and I parents and even though it's had it's challenges like everything else in this life the joy highly outweighs any hard days.  Thank you for choosing us and trusting us to teach you all that you need to know.  We love you dearly and have loved having you in our family!
Now for the fun stuff.  We got to celebrate two times, once in Utah and once at home.  We could've called your party in Utah good but I wanted to celebrate at home too because of everyone that loves you.

T's birthday is only 10 days before yours, so that makes him your birthday buddy :)

The morning you turned 1! :)

You weren't too excited about eating another cake ;)

My goodness Miss Heidi we sure love you! Here's some things that I wrote down on your birthday about what we love about you.
We love her smiles, her growls, how she laughs when she's tickled, the way she points at things and says eh, how she likes to pick, the way she loves Kody and all other dogs, her cuddles, the way she talks and makes the motorboat noise, how she loves to walk, her big blue eyes, her square toes, the way she enjoys watching people and finally the way she loves us.
Love you cute girl!

Memorial weekend 2015 at Mackinac Island

Ok this is obviously really old, but I couldn't help but making a post because it was a fun two days.  Jordan, Jamie and Logan were living in Michigan for the summer so we decided to join them and head up to Mackinac Island for the weekend-ish.  Adam had just started living with us at the time so we invited him to come along as well.  All 7 of us squished into the Traverse that Jordan was borrowing from GM.  To say the least it was very squishy haha.  It was a 4 hour drive and we got to our hotel at 11pm, yuck.  The kids did pretty darn good but Heidi was so ready to sleep in her bed instead of the carseat.  The next day we got up to catch the first ferry ride over which takes a short detour for no extra cost just so we could go under Mackinaw Bridge.  It was awesome, but very windy and we were sitting on the wrong side of the boat for the overspray.  Chase ended up getting super wet because he didn't try to run away like the rest of us. Once on the Island we just walked around and enjoyed ourselves.  After lunch the Clines rented bikes and we decided to just keep exploring on our feet.  We couldn't really do any hiking of sorts because we had the stroller but luckily there are enough roads that we were able to explore.  Mackinac Island doesn't allow any vehicles so if you want to get around you have to walk, ride a bike, or ride in a horse drawn carriage.  It's pretty awesome.  Once we all met back up we had to find the perfect fudge shop before we could catch our ferry back to the mainland.  Unfortunately on the ferry ride Jamie realized that they had left their fudge on the grass and they only had two delicious bites.  We gave them some of ours the following Day at church because we just couldn't let them go without.  Anyway once we got back to the car we headed for home.  It again was a long drive and day and by the end Logan had had enough which made Heidi cry as well.  Good thing we all survived :) and had a fun day exploring.