Sunday hike

 We went for a walk this afternoon. It was gorgeous. I love the spring.

 Dallin posing.

Ashlyn is such a doll. Can't wait to meet our future baby girl, and to see how she is going to look.

I know these sunglasses are huge, but she makes them look good. :) She loves them.

Tanner LOVES his basketball uniform (wears it all the time, even to bed most nights) and the medal he got when he finished. He does really well with basketball. I think it may be his sport, although he is a little short. But he is very coordinated and focused.

My first picture of me pregnant. I am 25 weeks. I am feeling pretty decent. Good thing I am married to a physical therapist (not that I am the best at listening to his advice) though because my sacroiliac joint is giving me grief; pops when I walk. And I am getting bigger faster with this pregnancy. I still have 15 weeks to go! Can't imagine how big I will get, and how bad my si joint is going to get.

Boys' room

I got lots of ideas from Pinterest for the boys' room. They wanted to do superheros. I painted this simple superhero city mural on one wall, and put some Avenger decals on it.

I saw some pictures of these superheroes and painted some of my own. 

 Here are some close ups.

 

I covered their light switch cover with some fabric and mod podge. [I actually put a white one back on since it blended in better. This one is in our pantry. :) I am too cheap to get another]. I made Dallin's pillow sham out of this same fabric. And this is one of the Avenger decals I put on the mural wall.

More girls room

I both love and hate having our own house. Mostly I love it. I love finally being able to decorate; it is so fun! On the other hand, I hate how much it can cost. Even though Nate has a great job, I still hyperventilate when I spend money. I have maintained the "poor college kid" mentality when it comes to money. I am glad I haven't lost that actually. That was one of the most valuable lessons I learned in college. 

With this project I have been trying to use a lot of things that we have already. I've painted and embellished a lot of frames. I've used the same 4 yards of fabric for lots of different things. It has been really fun to decorate this way because it requires a little extra creativity. I have just been taking pictures of sections of the room since it is a work in progress. Here are a few things I've done recently. 

I made a bow/flower hanger. Yes, I have A LOT of bows and flowers. It is pretty ridiculous. This isn't even all of them. 

I got these little shelves and collapsable boxes for the girls' clothes. I am doing this instead of a dresser for now. I could easily use them elsewhere in the house if and when they outgrow it. 

On one wall I put these wall hangings. Here is a close up of the quote by Elder Uchtdorf. It is actually not as pink as the picture looks, it is more of a coral color. I kind of copied it from Pinterest. 

 Our schedule has been pretty open lately, so I have had time for projects. I made this dress from a pattern I bought a while ago. I love how it turned out. I may just make another. The clothes I make for Ashlyn are almost all made of marked down remnants at craft stores. For now it works since I don't need too much fabric. I got a bunch at Walmart this week for $0.40 each! So excited to make more stuff.

Basketball

Tanner started basketball this month. He LOVES it. Always wants to shoot hoops, and constantly asks when his next game is. Our neighbor that is in his 1st grade class also plays, so they practice together a lot. I don't love sports, but I do love to watch the kids play. I wonder what my girls will be in to.

 He always wants to wear his jersey. It's a little big.

The gym where they have games isn't very well lit, so I got some shots outside when he was shooting hoops. 

Girls' room

I have been dying to do something to Ashlyn's bedroom, but wanted to wait until we knew if this next baby would be a girl or a boy, so I'd know how to decorate. I was so excited to hear we'd have another girl. I think red is my favorite color. I used it a lot in our house. I made these wall hangings for the girls room out of some fabric and frames I had. Try to look past the glare on the glass.

I am not a quilter, but I threw together this little blanket for the toddler bed. We will be using it for another 4 years or so. I just need to do a pillow sham or something to match now.  I have some left over fabric still. 

I often find Ashlyn like this when I come into the kitchen. That is why we have so much fruit all the time.

A proud moment

I try REALLY hard to eat healthy and to teach the kids to do the same thing. It is a challenge, but Dallin asked for spinach at the store today so he could "Eat it all day like Popeye." We showed the kids a Youtube video of Popeye eating spinach a couple days ago that impressed Dallin apparently. Usually he is one to look at his food closely to see if there is anything green in it for him to complain about. But he and Tanner both ate a spinach and ranch salads, and asked for seconds. Tanner normally loves salad anyway. And Ashlyn loves celery with ranch. So, I was a proud mom today.

The kids lately

Tanner finally lost that tooth that was loose for way too long. It took him a good month to get it out. The permanent tooth started is pushing his other baby bottom tooth out now. 

 I tried potty training Ashlyn recently since she is 2, but quickly learned she is not ready. Or I am not. She loves to sit on her potty, and has been doing that for a couple months, but she doesn't seem to get that you pee in it. I sat in the bathroom with her while she sat on her potty for a good 20 minutes. We talked, and read books, but she never went. I let her up, and not 2 minutes later she was standing in a puddle yelling "Pee! Mom!" I was so mad. We will wait a bit longer before trying again. They say girls are easier, but I am thinking that is not so.

 Not much going on with Dallin these days. He is becoming more "boy" lately. He has always liked rainbows and butterflies and feminine things. I never discouraged it. I don't want him to feel bad for liking "girly things". I don't even want to tell him that there are "girly" or "boy" things, society will do that soon enough. The other day while he was talking to the craft lady at Kid Time (a kids' museum in town) he said he likes slimy bugs. I was surprised because it is so unlike him. Maybe since he and Tanner are sharing a room, Tanner teaches him stuff at bed time. 

 I am 18 weeks pregnant now and finally getting past that "is-she-pregnant-or-did-she-just-eat-too-much around-the-holidays" stage of pregnancy. I am not really in the mood to take belly shots this time around. Maybe later I will have a change of heart. I have been discouraged with this pregnancy because I hate to lose my physical endurance, stamina and shape. I felt pretty fit before this pregnancy. I hate slowing down because I have to. My will wants to exercise at the level I had been, but my body won't let me. Anyway, maybe I will get over myself and be more excited about this pregnancy when I feel "it" move, and when "it" becomes a he or a she. I am hoping, or this could be a very long pregnancy.

Can we do a craft?

I think there is something about school that makes kids really love projects and activities. Tanner is always asking to do an activity or craft, and it seems to have started when he started school. 

Thank goodness for Pinterest or I would be short on ideas!

I've started collecting all kinds of garbage to use in crafts: toilet paper rolls, egg cartons, plastic containers. 

 Dallin hasn't started school yet, so he doesn't quite have the attention span that Tanner does, so I end up finishing up his projects most of the time. 

 Egg carton monsters. Now, what to do with all these master pieces? I am not one to keep stuff like this around for long. We also have toilet paper roll angry birds, puppets, jet packs, and a Lorax tree craft cluttering my house.

 We also made pumpkin chocolate chip muffins because Dallin LOVES to help in the kitchen. 

It looks like Tanner has lost that tooth, but not really, it is just so loose it has moved to the side. He is scared to pull it out. The permanent tooth is coming up behind it. We are hoping it pushes it out painlessly. We talked to a dentist and she said it shouldn't be a problem if we wait it out.

K'nex and goofy Dallin

 The K'nex seemed to be more for Nate. Tanner was the assistant that handed Nate the pieces as he asked for them. 

 Dallin cracks me up. He just comes out of his room dressed as his idea of a super hero, or finds bubble wrap off of something and pokes his limbs through it to become a ghost. I love the imagination on this kid.

 

Completed!

Christmas

It is so fun having little kids on Christmas morning. They are so easily excited, and it makes me happy.

 I made these super hero pillow shams for the boys' beds. We got them a bunk bed so they are in the same room now, and we are doing a super hero theme. Maybe I will take some pictures some time. I did some paintings for their walls of Spider Man, Bat Man, Wonder Woman and Captain America.

 Dallin was so excited about everything and kept saying "I wanted this!" He didn't ever know what he wanted for Christmas when we'd ask, so I am glad he was pleased.

 K'nex is a little advanced for a 6 year old but he and Nate put it together over a couple of days, and he will be able to do it by himself one day. 

 Ashlyn likes to push things, so she loves this doll stroller. She also got a little shopping cart that she wheels around the house.

 Christmas afternoon we went to my parents' house for lunch/dinner. Everyone got games, so we brought them and played them. It is so nice to live by family now. Two of my brother's families were with us, and my sister Tracie, and we got to Skype with my sister, Kris, who is on her mission in North Carolina. And my brother, Jesse, is serving in Texas. He got to call too. So it was a good day.