My Dad

We got very lucky this past week and had a random visit from my Dad! He was actually working in Chicago and so we got to go visit him! It made me wish that family was only a 3 hour drive away all the time. So we headed up to the Windy City and had a short but sweet visit. I wish it could've been longer and I wish it would've been warmer... oh and I wish parking wasn't such a pain in Chicago :) BUT we did have fun! It was so nice seeing my Dad and the kids were SO SO happy to be with him. When Dad first got in the car we were trying to figure out where we were going to park (plan A wasn't working out for us) and so we were just talking. I looked over at Makiah and she had her eye on Grandpa... and she was smiling. When I told my Dad to say "hi" she looked away and became very shy. Haha, it was cute. No worries though, as soon as we got out of the car she was in his arms and good to go. We had a yummy dinner and then hung out at my dad's hotel. Both of the kids LOVED being with Grandpa... no shyness at all. I love that the kids know who family is, even though we only see them once or twice a year :) We did have a ton of fun though and we can't wait to see him and the rest of the family again. 

The next day we got to go to the temple. It was so nice to be there again. We saw some familiar faces and we felt so welcome. It was a nice trip! On the way home I wanted to head back into the city to see Dad again, but unfortunately we couldn't :( Thanks Dad for coming all the way out here just to see us! *wink, wink* Love you!

Backtrack.

When I went to Utah last August I had one thing that I HAD to do while I was there. And this is it (only 7 months late). I got married just over 5 years ago now and my sister Shannon is coming on her 5 year anniversary this month. Neither of us got our bridal portraits done. Why you ask? I honestly don't know. Something about being in front of the camera alone... too much money... not enough time. I don't know, but it never got done. Until last August. I am so GLAD that we did this. Reasons.... 1. I actually still fit into my dress and I am not sure how long that will last. 2. I almost kinda sorta look like I did when I got married. 3. Photographs are so very important to me. More important than I thought they were 5 years ago. 

So. We pulled out the dresses. Did our hair and makeup. Found our amazingly wonderful skilled little sister, and got to work. Bethany is the one we owe this too. She is the one with the photography skills. She took all these photos and more and I couldn't love them more. 

Oh yes. One more thing. Shannon, you are stunning. Absolutely stunning. 

Oh... that was only a handful... I might have to show you some more. And we have some not so posed, fun ones as well :) 

Positive Reinforcement.

Every now and then I have to regroup as a mom. Things start to get crazy. Kids stop cooperating. Everyone seems to be unhappy and crying all the time. So when this happens I try to think... what am I doing wrong? It is a hard thing to think... it is easier to put the blame on the grumpy kids- right? So, this is what I recently had to do. I decided that I am constantly correcting my kids. Telling them what to do. Telling them everything they are doing wrong. This ALWAYS ends badly (me yelling, kids crying, everyone unhappy). I decided last Sunday that I needed to give them some positive reinforcement.

I bought a jar. And some cotton balls.

Every time my kids say something nice, do something nice, obey, clean up, etc. they get a cotton ball. They sure LOVE those cotton balls. Evan will do ANYTHING for a cotton ball. I love it. Even Kiah (who never got into sticker charts) loves it. She actually helps us clean up now. With no tears. It is wonderful.

We try to fill up the jar once a day, but so far it has been every other day. When it is full they get a treat. Yesterday they got an ice cream cone. They were thrilled.

What I love about this is it helps me. Not only do the kids need to obey and be nice, but I have to remember to reward them. This makes a happier mom, happier kids, a happier dad and a happier home :)

We love our cotton ball jar.

What has been going on...

I feel like I have been so silent on this blog lately. I have much to tell, but I wasn't so sure about what to write on the blog. I mentioned a few posts down that life has been crazy and it has. Crazy but good. Ever since we moved to this duplex Dallas and I have been considering the option to buy a home. The idea came and went so often that we finally decided that we needed to just look into it and see if it was right for us.

So that is what we've been doing... talking to lenders, budgeting, searching online at real estate, talking to Realtors, builders, looking at homes and model homes, sorting through floor plans, the works. Fun stuff. Stressful stuff. Crazy stuff. For awhile there we were feeling really good about the decision and we started talking more and more about it. Then this past week we just started getting frustrated with the idea. It was still exciting to think about, but I started getting doubts about a few things.

So. I have a really neat Dad. He is my go to guy for just about EVERYTHING. He knows when I call and ask for him that I am needing advice about one thing or another. The really cool thing about my Dad is that he will give advice that fits your needs... not just his. In other words, he won't tell me what to do and he won't give his opinion on what he thinks I should do. He will just put everything in perspective, weigh the pros and cons for the decision at hand and then he will leave it up to me to decide for myself. I love that. Thanks Dad.

I was on the web cam with my family yesterday (Happy Birthday Mom!!) and I ended up talking to my Dad about housing. I told him my concerns and he worked his magic and gave me the advice that I needed to hear. Basically it came down to the fact that, yes Dallas and I could buy a home. We could make it work. And we would probably be happy. BUT (there is always a but, right?) we would be happier if we waited. We could pay off our student loans within the year, continue to save for a home, save for a car, and have time to find the neighborhood and home that is just right for us. It makes perfect sense. For us at least. For some it would make more sense to just buy. But for us.... we feel SOOO good about waiting! I can't tell you how good it felt yesterday when Dallas and I made our decision. Relief.

The other part about waiting that makes me happy (Dallas claims that it is my only reason... but it isn't :)), is that if a year or two passes and we decide that we are ready for a change... we could pick up and move and not have to sell a home. That would be a relief as well :)

I am so glad that we considered buying a home. We have learned so much about the process and we understand it all so much better. Next time we jump into the process again we will be much more prepared and we will have a better idea of what to look for.

So that's our life. For now. Thanks for listening :)

Happy Birthday Grandma!

The kids love birthdays! They were so excited to send Grandma Johnson a birthday package and then watch her open it on the web cam. We even had muffins with candles to help Grandma celebrate :) Dallas thought I was crazy to let them blow out a candle on our bed (so my mom could see on the computer). Oh well, nothing burned down and we had fun!

Happy Birthday Mom!! We love you lots!

A Kiah Update...

I told you in the last post that I was going to take some pictures and I did :) That very day :) Now I am finally putting them on my computer and now on the blog. I have been so slow and lazy with the blog lately. Mostly because I have nothing to post.... so today you get to hear a little about My Kiah.

She is the silliest thing ever. Evan can be silly too... but Kiah... she just has her own kind of silliness. She likes to be funny and she likes people to laugh at her. Evan is silly because he is a kid and that is what kids do... but not Kiah, she does it because she knows she'll get a reaction. Her facial expressions are hilarious. When she is telling me something her eyes get wide like she is telling me something amazing. She likes to laugh at her own jokes and she has a fun giggle. We would be crazy bored without our Kiah.

She says the sweetest, shortest prayers ever. She only prays for one thing. One. That is all. It usually goes like this:

Heavenly Father, Thank thee for the food. Jesus name, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Those prayers are especially funny when we aren't sitting down for a meal :) Evan likes to pray for things like Christmas, Birthdays, and other holidays. So in February almost every prayer Kiah said went like this:

Heavenly Father, Thank thee for Valentines Day. Jesus name, Jesus Christ, Amen.

During this Valentines kick there was a day when Kiah asked to say the prayer... we were expecting the prayer above, but instead we got this...

Heavenly Father, Thank thee that Daddy could come home. Jesus name, Jesus Christ, Amen.

So. Sweet.

I know I've mentioned this before... Just like every other girl out there she changes her clothes 50+ times a day. Grrr. It drives me crazy. I feel like I am constantly folding and putting away clothes. Then I get sick of folding so I just throw them in her dresser. Then I don't know what is clean and what is dirty so I just throw them all into the wash. That is where the drama begins. Kiah HATES it when I do laundry. She will cry and cry if the shirt/skirt/pajamas/dress that she wanted to wear is dirty. I hate leaving the house because it is a battle to get her to wear a shirt and jeans. She usually wants to wear her green polka dot PJ pants with a stripped shirt or something outrageous like that. Those of you with a little girl... you know the drill. It happens to all of us, right?

Kiah is now being potty trained at night... YEAY! For some of you this is probably something you do right away... but not me. The LAST thing I want to worry about during potty training is trying to keep it up all night long. So I resort to the pull ups :) Evan still does the pull up thing during the night, but Kiah refuses to wear them. So I just stopped making her. She needs me to get her up and take her around 10:30 every night but after that she is just about ready to go. The past 4 or 5 nights I set an alarm, but I just turn it off because I am soooo lazy. Lucky for me Kiah will come and wake me up if she needs to go or she will hold it till morning. YEAY! Hopefully she can figure out the 10:30 thing, because if I miss it she has an accident. At least she can make it through the rest of the night :)

I am realizing that her development is so different from Evan's. She learns things at a different pace. She learned her colors and shapes so quickly. But letters are something else. She knows a handful of the letters... not many. At this age Evan had them down and he could write many of them as well... Kiah can't write at all. I am now realizing this and so I am trying to help her learn, but she isn't as interested as Evan. She does try to sing the Abc's but she skips around a lot. She can count to 12 and she can count objects with help, but that is a newer skill :) I am not worried about her or anything... it is just interesting to see the difference between her and Evan.

Just because I haven't posted these yet...

The fishies are alive and well. I am sure you were all wondering. The kids still haven't gotten bored of them (which surprises me), they love to feed them and watch them all the time. 

I am sure you are also wondering why I haven't posted lately... well. yes. this is just about as exciting as my life gets some days...

Just joking about that last line... We really have been busy. I feel like life is CRAZY right now and it will only get crazier as this year goes on. I am sure I will fill you all in on the craziness soon enough. It's nothing to keep you awake at night anxiously waiting to hear from me on this blog. Just stuff. Life. You know. 

I have had no time for pictures lately. That makes me sad. I think I will go take some pictures now... it has been way too long. 

Speaking of pictures... winter is coming to an end! Yeay! I am looking forward to booking photography sessions again... As soon as this weather starts really warming up I will be doing outdoor sessions again. I am also available now for indoor sessions with newborns and babies. Or if you are brave and want a portrait session out in the cold I can arrange that as well (Maternity, couples, etc). If you are wanting family portraits I will be waiting until it is nice and warm out! Let me know if you are interested and I can schedule you in if you'd like :) Oh and be sure to check out my photography blog for details and information.