Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day! What an exhausting day! I guess it didn't help that I was up late last night with girlfriends watching The Bachelor;) Well, the morning was spent getting ready for a Valentine's Day party we were having at our house with people from our church. We made some pink milk, pink covered marshmallows and heart-shaped pepperoni pizza. Around 11 am, 20 kids, 5 babies and 15 moms came to our house for food and a valentine exchange for the kids. It was A LOT of people in our house at one time but it was also a lot of fun. At the end of the party, it looked like a nuclear bomb had gone off. My kids were really helpful and together we had the house back in order in just a couple of hours. We may need to do this again next year for Paige and Zoey since it is so fun for the little ones not in school to do a valentine exchange. 

Paul tried to get home a little early from work last night and I got to spend the evening with my Valentine. We decided to stay in this year since Zoey has been waking up a lot at night due to teething:( Good news is that the tooth is almost breaking skin. We snuggled on the couch and watched a romantic comedy with a pint of our favorite dulce de leche Haagen-dazs ice cream. It you haven't tried it, you are missing out. Every year we say we are not going to get each other gifts but every year he still gets me something and it is always something really nice. It's kind of annoying but also really sweet. 

After every baby, I think how much harder marriage is during this time. We are both so tired and have little time to spend with just each other. I feel lucky that I am still so in love with Paul after over 10 years of dating/marriage. It hurts my head to try and figure exactly how many years it's been so I'll just leave it at "over 10 years." What little time we do have together is still playful and fun. We had some good laughs last night, mostly at his expense. I just really like him. 

Pink Milk

Valentine pizza!

Pink mrshmallows!

Passing out Valentines

Here is a picture of most of the kids. I think there are a few missing.  

My kids after the party going through their boxes. My valentine loves!

My cute Zoey at 9-months-old. 

Such a sweet face. 

Happy New Year

We got home from St. George the morning of New Year's Eve and decided to throw a party at our house that evening. We had four families over and had a total of 14 kids. Paige and Zoey were so exhausted from our trip that they slept through the whole party. I was surprised they slept so soundly considering all the noise. We were really loud. It was a really fun way to ring in the new year. We ate too much, played games and the overly-tired kids ran wild.

So far this year, we've had some really nice days in the upper 60's and low 70's and little rain so we've tried to be out as much as possible. We've had lots of park days.

I love this smile she does where she scrunches up her nose:)

Paul will spin all day. It makes me feel sick just watching him. I think he gets this gene from his Aunt Shayna who could also spin all day. 

I love it when Paul and Paige have a blast together. They laughed so much together this day.  

Hanging out while out for a walk

Zoey having a snack on the walk

Paul can hang for over 3 minutes even while his dad tickles him. He has also mastered the monkey bars.

This is Paige's stance. She does this all the time. It cracks me up. 

We got to watch my nieces over the weekend and we had so much fun together. 

Paige and Addy playing house

Homemade volcano

Playing baby


Addy makes an awesome baby;)

Paul wants to hold and swing with Zoey every time we go to the park and there is a big swing. It's really cute. 

One of my best friends from high school came to visit from Chicago. I love this girl and it was so nice to visit with her. 

Amanda and I

Amanda and Zoey. We miss you!

Paul helping Paige brush a goat.

A little update on our little Zoey. She just turned 9-months-old on the 9th of February. We thought Paul was an active baby but Zoey has him beat. She started standing unassisted a few weeks ago and started taking steps a few days ago at 8-months-old! Paul didn't take steps until he was 10-months-old. She can climb up a flight of stairs, crawl on her toes as well as her knees and tries to climb up anything and everything. She loves smiling at people, clapping her hands and says "mom". She stands up in her crib, holds onto the rail and jumps up and down until I come get her. She already wants to do what her older brother and sister are doing. If they have a sippy cup of water, she demands one too. If they are brushing their teeth, she wants to brush her 2 1/2 teeth as well. She is a crack up and I can't get enough of her. 

I guess I should give you an update on all the kids. Paul has recently developed an obsession for Star Wars as a result of his father's love for it. He begged us for months to let him watch the movie. Paul finally caved the other night and let him watch the first one. He also bought him a couple Star Wars Lego XBox games and the two of them played one day for hours until our XBox got red rings. Now Paul takes his game over to a friend's house and plays there every once in awhile. He also loves reading Star Wars books and hopes to visit Legoland soon.

Paige still smothers Zoey:) You would think after 8 months that she would back off a little bit but this stubborn child persists. She wants to pick her up like Paul picks her up except she isn't strong enough to do it and ends up strangling her. We tried potty training her today. Day one of potty training was a failure. She has 3 pairs of panties and wet through all three in the morning and didn't pee once in the toilet all day. Paige is a super sweet girl and loves to cuddle. She tells me she loves me and kisses me on my forehead about 20 times a day. She also melts down like no one I've ever seen. It's amazing. She still loves princesses and all things pink. She sounds like an opera singer when she sings. She hides under the table or in a corner when she wants to do something naughty like eat a treat or color on her hands and feet. She also likes to take care of business in some corner or behind a curtain.

Here is a typical argument between Paul and Paige:

Paul: "You are not the boss of me!"
Paige: "No, I'm NOT the boss of you!"