February 2013 - Part 1

I forgot to mention that at the end of January (since I was sick and coughing a ton), I popped one of my ribs out of place! I have never done anything like that before (I have never broken a bone, either...knock on wood) and it was ultra painful! Every breath was painful and every cough was pretty much unbearable, even when I had ibuprofen in me. I am one that likes to let my body heal as naturally as possible, so I don't have a lot of medicine in my house. We all take our multi-vitamins and I have some ibuprofen and Tylenol, but that's about it. I don't know why I didn't call the chiropractor earlier - I guess I figured I could be strong for a week and 2 days until my next appointment. Well, I was in pain for that week and 2 days. My cough did get a little better, but I was still hurting bad. 

I went to the chiropractor on February 5th and the healing began. I told him about my rib and he went straight to work. He popped my rib back into place and I immediately felt 80% better. He also recommended this drink called Greens first. I got some and it helped my immune system to get stronger, so my cough went away within days. Tyson also found that this drink gave him energy even when he was tired (there is no caffeine - it is pretty much just vegetables ground up and a mint flavoring and some stevia). Thankfully, I got better and better. I hope my rib never pops out again! 

Other news at the beginning of February: Eve finally decided that it was better to go poops in the potty than in her underwear. Once she made the decision, she has not had a pooping accident! Hurray! It was interesting because she was keeping her diaper dry at night and started sleeping in underwear, but was still hesitant about pooping in the potty. Thankfully, she is over her fear/apprehension/whatever it was and goes cheerfully in the potty. :) 

February 1, 2013

Fridays are a good day because Tyson usually gets home from work earlier than during the week. During busy season this usually holds true as well (although that doesn't mean he gets to see the kids - it just means he usually gets home before 11 p.m.). Thankfully, we all got to see Tyson on February 1st! It was just about bedtime, but the kids got to stay up a little and play with daddy. Happy day!

February 7, 2013 - Another reason I love Las Vegas in the winter. We played outside at the beginning of February and barely needed jackets! Yahoo! It was just me and the girls while Reed was at preschool. We played at Helen Meyer Park. Eve and Aria loved chasing the pigeons. 

February 8, 2013 - Vance turned 6 and we went to Grandma's house for his birthday dinner, cake, ice cream, and a movie! We love living so close to so much family! It's fun to celebrate with everyone. :)

Aria ate her own food and plenty of other people's food as well ! She was in heaven :) 

February 11, 2013 - We made Valentine's decorations today. I loved the hearts because they didn't require any glue (since I used contact paper). The kids could stick on as much or as little tissue paper as they wanted. We hung them up all over the house.

Tyson and I were supposed to do a Valentine's Day date the weekend before Valentine's Day (since it was further away from his work deadline. But, he ended up not being able to go. :( He did bring me home some tulips (love!) and some chocolate! 

I actually got these on Saturday, February 9th. 

Reed's photo shoot: February 11, 2013 - He's getting good! I wonder if he'll want to do this forever :)

Trying to wake Eev up from her nap - the pictures didn't really help. 

Love Aria's face

So sweet

She's growing up so fast!

Reed also wanted a picture of himself. This was his crown from church where he learned that he is a prince, the son of  a Heavenly King. 

February 12, 2013 - We finished making our hearts to hang on the banister. We also put up the rest of the decorations just in time for Valentine's Day. We don't have many, but I thought our decorations were cute.

January 2013

I did awful at taking pictures in January - it's pretty pathetic. But, I was sick for most of January and also popped my rib out place from coughing so hard. So, pictures were kind of the last thing on my mind. Despite the lack of pictures, we did do a lot in the month. Here's the rundown: 

No New Year's is complete unless Grandpa Walker burns the year into the street. Can't believe it's 2013! Oh, and yes, we had games, lots of food, and a helicopter obstacle course to keep us busy before we were burning the street. Tyson won the helicopter competition :) His birthday gift from last year has paid off - we got a 100 grand (candy, not dollars...too bad, though) and some "strawberry milk" a.k.a. Nesquik strawberry. 

On New Year's Day night, Shauntelle and John dropped their girls off at our house so they could be on their way to Florida to celebrate their 10-year anniversary! I thought Tyson would be off work the whole time, but it turns out that I was wrong and he went back to work Thursday and Friday, which left me with 6 kids and no car in the middle of winter (well, Las Vegas winter). It definitely was a lot of fun and loud and crazy. It was almost like have 2 sets of twins - Reed and Evyn are 6 months apart and Eve and Isla are 5 weeks apart. We spent a lot of time coloring, played some tag, rode bikes, watched movies, and just hung out. We did make a special outing on Saturday to sit in Grandma Walker's hot tub. That is always a good time. 

The girls stayed at our house until Sunday evening. John and Shauntelle made it to our 2 p.m. church (awful time, but what do you do when there are 4 wards in your building?!) and Evyn and Mary came to our CTR 6 class (also our first time teaching). Then, they came over for dinner at our house before packing up their stuff and taking the girls back home. 

After that busy season started for Tyson (boo) which usually means a lot of nights putting the kids to bed by myself and watching dumb things on television. Luckily, I had gotten back into reading since I could stay awake for more than 5 minutes. When I am pregnant or am still being woken up in the middle of the night by a nursing baby or even just nursing in general, I cannot read at night. I fall asleep almost instantly. But, that is my only time to relax and read. So, These last few years I have not been able to do a lot of reading since I have been pregnant and/or nursing for most of them. Well, since I am neither at the moment, reading has become fun again! I do love books and always have. So, this busy season was full of books for me and much less television (thank goodness since there are not many things that are worth watching on our 7 channels that we have).

I also got a little sick in the middle of January, but was still going to keep going. I had a persistent cough and did end up losing my voice, but it always seems that way in the winter for me. I never get sick enough to really warrant going to the doctor, but I get just sick enough to not want to do a whole lot. Ugh.

Near the end of January - January 23rd and 25th - I got to see my good friend, Heather, her husband, Michael, and their adorable baby Lorelai! I have known Heather since 6th grade and she is one of the few people I sort of attempt to keep in contact with (although I could do a way better). She came into town (since most of her family still lives in Las Vegas) and we got to hang out a little on Wednesday and then again on Friday night at a Gwin family dinner (I was adopted in as an honorary Gwin family member). It was a ton of fun to catch up and just see how we all are growing up! I loved chatting with the whole family and Tyson was even able to make the dinner (a bit late, but he came!). I wish that they lived closer and I could see them more often, but I will take what I can get. Heather is one of my favorite people! I am so happy to know her and be friends with her. :)

This extends beyond January and into February, but a fun thing we did during busy season so that Tyson could see the kids at least a little bit was to go see him on Wednesdays for lunch. The kids were always so excited to see "the building" (that's what Eve called the Mandalay Bay, where Tyson was working for busy season) and get to eat out and eat with daddy. 

So, that was a sum up of our January! 

Christmas Eve and Christmas

This year was our turn with Grandma and Grandpa Walker for Christmas. On Christmas Eve we did a lot of playing with aunts, uncles, and cousins and did our round of caroling. Most of the families live in our old ward (past home teaching families and such of Grandma and Grandpa) so we added in 2 other families to the list (Gibson family and Eve's nursery leaders) since they lived so close. I always love caroling and plan on having a completely new set of people to carol to next year. I am even going to make Tyson sing with me. :) 

After caroling we came to the Grandma and Grandpa's and had Chinese food for dinner. Then, we re-enacted the Nativity scene. Unfortunately, no pictures, but the kids did great! Eve was Mary (easy choice since she is the oldest girl) and Vance was Joseph. Aria and Kade were sheep/shepherds along with Tyson. I was part of the wiseperson crew of Reed, Carter, and myself. Natalie, Kylie, and Mackenzi were angels. This is one of my favorite Christmas traditions. My kids are almost big enough were we could do it with just our family! 

After that, the kids each got their pjs from Grandma, plus everyone got to open a present. Then, the hot chocolate in the Santa mugs. Phew - yes, we pack a lot in to one evening. Then, we headed back home so the kids could go to sleep so that Santa could come. 

Christmas morning was especially great because no one got up early! Yahoo for kids who like to sleep in past 7 :) We even had to wake Aria up at around 8 (the others got up just past 7:30) so that we could go down the stairs and see if Santa had come. Here they are anxiously waiting (Tyson is just as excited!). 

Christmas morning! 

We spent the next while opening presents and seeing what everyone got. Grandma and Grandpa came over with their presents as well - bikes for Reed and Eve and a little car (you know the red and yellow ones) for Aria. It was great! The kids loved all their presents, especially Aria. She got so excited for every present - it was cute to watch.

Flashlights were a hit this year! Everyone loved them! 

Aria's favorite part was ripping the paper.

Eve has a great cheesy smile. 

Yeah for Dora chapstick. 

Aria looking at one of her books. 

Eve was so excited to get Rapunzel and Maximus!

Aria loved her train. 

Her puppy was her favorite gift, though. It barks and even walks a few steps! 

Reed was so excited to get a green light saber!

After the presents were done, daddy made cashnitas (no idea how to spell it) which is a piece of toast with egg and cheese melted on the top. Then, we headed to Grandma and Grandpa's house for more food, and to open the presents from them to our family. We were given some shelving for our garage! They even helped us put it up the next day (what service).

We spent the rest of the day there, playing games and hanging out. Jared and Beckie had to leave on Christmas, so we stayed until they left. They actually had to come back because of some car trouble, but were able to get on the road a little later that night.

The day after Christmas we got our shelves up and the kids tested our their bikes for the first time! Reed was pretty much a pro as soon as he got on (he has practiced with his trike). Eve was a little more skeptical, but likes it, as long as she is going slow. We spent much of the afternoon riding bikes and watching daddy and Grandpa put the shelves up. Good fun!

Speeding by

Slow and steady 

Reed loves to pose for pictures. 

Eve turns 3!

December 23rd my little Eve turned 3! It's hard to believe that she is already that old! I do feel a little bad that her birthday is so close to Christmas, but she does share the day with an amazing person - Joseph Smith. So, she is in good company. Plus, she was the best Christmas present we have ever received. It is also nice that since it is so close to Christmas, out-of-town family is usually in-town and everyone can take time to celebrate with us. 

Eve is such a sweet little girl with an amazing imagination. 

She and Reed play all sorts of games together and she is physically just as tough as the boys (if not tougher). Emotionally, she is very much a girl. Hurt feelings make her cry. 

She is actually a super funny person. She has an infectious laugh and comes up with some of the funniest lines. She loves doing things that make people laugh (Reed has already commented, "Mom, Eve really is funny!"). 

Her favorite church song is "I am a Child of God" and her favorite non-church song is "Call Me, Maybe." Her favorite colors are pink and purple. 

I think she is going to be very artistic - she will color for an hour and loves to paint. She is specific about which colors she wants where, which I find amazing for someone her age. 

She loves being a 'mom.' 

Since it was a Sunday, Eve even got wear her birthday dress to church! She was super excited about her dress (I'm glad because I bought it a while ago since I loved it so much and have been saving it for her birthday). We decorated the hallway and her door with balloons and such - the usual :). We headed to Grandma Walker's house after naps for the birthday dinner, cake, and presents. 

Everyone in Tyson's family was able to be there, including the out-of-towners Jared and Beckie! Shauntelle and John and the kids were able to come as well. It's nice to be surrounded by so much family. It really helped make Eve's day super special. 

Just love doing this - and love that I don't have to pay for helium!

Reed is always so excited to give other people presents and watch them open it. Eve's birthday was no exception! 

The hallway

This year Eve wanted a Barbie doll cake that was pink and purple. Mission accepted and completed. Plus, I had some leftover cake and made a little cake with her name on it.  She absolutely loved it!

The finished product

She even has a bow in the back. Plus, an accidental but gorgeous up do to make her look fancy!

Pretty good, right?!

The beautiful birthday girl in her birthday dress by her birthday cake! 

Singing "Happy Birthday" to Eve

Blowing out the candles 

After dinner and cake and ice cream, it was present time and Eve really lucked out! She got a little timid when opening presents, since everyone was watching her, but Reed made the perfect side comments, "Look at that! How cute!" and "Hey, she's opening another one. Everyone watch!" - Such a supportive older brother.

The presents 

Piggie and Elephant books - a personal favorite of mine and my kids

Princess play dolls 

 After that, the kids just played and had a good time. Eve got some fairy wings and a wand from Aunt Tifani and spent the rest of the night with them (almost) permanently attached. We all enjoyed each other's company and the rest of the evening. I love you, Eve! Happy 3rd birthday :)