A Happy Home is Filled with Love and Laughter: February 2015

Beej & Chris

These pictures were taken with my phone and got a little blurry when they were blown up. But here are a few pictures of some one on one time with Kaylee and Ashlynn.

I took Kaylee to Artic Circle for a special mom and Kaylee time.

I spent some one on one time with Ashlynn while BJ was playing with the kids. With all the struggles it took to get this sweet girl here, we are beyond grateful to have her sweet smile in our family.

I love LOVE cuddles

I stopped at the gas station one day for a quick snack. Brought back memories of my childhood and stopping at Maverick to get cheese sticks with my mom :)

Date night with the babe

Beej & Chris

With all the stress with the house stuff, BJ and I called a babysitter to watch Kaylee and Connor and snuck out on a date. We brought Ashlynn with us and went to a few Open Houses to get ideas of what we wanted in our new house, and grabbed a bite to eat at Olive Garden.

Ashlynn did great on our date! I fed her while we walked through on of the Open houses with a blanket thrown over me, and then she slept while we were at the restaurant.

Ashlynn - oxygen free

Beej & Chris

Since Ashlynn's birth she was on home oxygen. Even though she looked stinkin cute with or without her oxygen tubing.....

We were SOOO excited to have her be off the oxygen. She held onto it until she was about 2 months old. She was only on a small amount of oxygen 1/32th of a liter, and got to the point where she was only on it at night. But after she got RSV it just took her a little longer than anticipated to fully get off the oxygen.

It was not only nice to know that she was doing good without oxygen and was healthy; but it was nice to be able to walk around without any cords. It was soo much easier to take the kids to preschool without having to change her oxygen to the portable and carrying the pulse oxymeter.

We sure love our Ashlynn and are so grateful to have her here with us!

Building a house

Beej & Chris

We are really excited for our new house being built in West Bountiful. We had been looking for a place to build for a few years and finally found a builder we wanted to use. We had gone looking for lots with our builders but didn't find anything. We found one in Bountiful that had an amazing view of the Bountiful Temple, but just didn't like that it was on a busy street and didn't have close neighbors or a place for the kids to ride bikes.

Then one Sunday BJ went on a drive and drove right to this lot in West Bountiful. Their was a For Sale sign on it, but it wasn't posted anywhere online. After SEVERAL attempts to call and get information on the lot, we put an offer in which was accepted.

We take the kids over almost everyday to snap a picture of the progress. We have made friends with our neighbors and are excited to move in.

I LOVE LOVE this picture of these two

Primary Talks

Beej & Chris

Connor gave his first primary talk and did such a great job. He was so brave and spoke up so everyone could hear him. After he repeated the talk being whispered into his ear he so bravely bore his own testimony by himself. It is so fun seeing his sweet personality come out.

Kaylee the next week gave her second primary talk. She talked about Prophets and did such a great job as well. She is so brave and confident. She too bore her own sweet testimony. I am so grateful our kids are gaining strong testimonies, and very much appreciate their primary teachers and all they teach them each week. This week was the last week in our 13th ward before we start going to the new ward in West Bountiful. We are sure going to miss all of the friends we gained in this ward but are excited to get to know more friends in our new ward.

Kaylee turns 5_wellness check

Beej & Chris

I can't believe this cute and sassy girl is 5 years old now! Here is her stats:

Wt: 44 lbs 4 ounces........ 90%

Ht: 44.9 inches......... 90%
BMI: 55%

B/P: 123/82 ( normal female b/p:103/66)

HR: 102
Vision: 20/20

We talked to the pediatrician about her eczema problems. He suggested having her take a small Zyrtec pill each night to help. She swallows the pill without a problem and it has helped a lot with her eczema problems.

Kaylee loves to have her own special things on her bed. She puts her lip gloss and random little toys or coloring pencils in her containers on her bed. She doesn't like anyone to touch it....which is why it is the first thing to be taken away when she continually back talks or is really disobedient.

Each morning she wakes up and immediately makes her bed. She lays out her stuffed animals and dolls at the end of her bed and doesn't like them to be touched. We keep telling her that putting her animals right at the top of the ladder on the bunk bed isn't the best place for them, but she insists it HAS to be there.

Kaylee loves to read and is doing better and better each day. She comes home with really simple books from preschool which she will read in the car on her own before we have even got home. She is now starting to sound out words everywhere we go. We love seeing her yearn to learn so much.

They had to give Kaylee her kindergarten shots, but this girl was super duper brave and didn't even shed a tear. I was so proud of her! As promised, we took her and her brother out for an ice cream cone. Shots are always the pits; especially Kindergarten shots!

Kaylee doesn't nap and hasn't for a looong time now. She on a very rare occasion will fall asleep in the car; but will wake up immediately after the car is stopped. She goes to bed at 8 pm and will sleep till around 7 am most of the time. Kaylee is very independent and loves to get herself dressed. Mom will tell her if something doesn't match, but gives her the choice to change or not. Almost never does she change even when her mom says it doesn't match; she usually replies "It looks cute though". Kaylee LOVES to wear makeup or have sparkles in her hair....really, anything that makes her feel cute and pretty. She has always become opinionated on how she wants her hair.

Kaylee is such a great helper with her baby sister and younger brother. She can change Ashlynn's wet diapers all by herself (though mom usually makes sure the diaper is tight enough...just in case). She has such a contagious Bwaha laugh that cracks us up everytime we hear it. Each night before she goes to bed she will say several times "Love you, have good dreams!" and will often announce when she is falling asleep by saying "Okay, I'm going to bed now. Good night".

We sure love our Kaylee bean!

Kaylee Family Party with Grandma Tenney

Beej & Chris

Since Kaylee is getting older we decided not to invite all of our families to come celebrate her birthday. Like I said before, I just don't want her to expect it every year and become spoiled. Don't get me wrong- I LOVE birthdays and it is a day to spoil your kiddos. But she can have fun and feel special with just a few people.

Since Grandma Tenney was in town we had her and JC, Anya and Light over for dinner and a puppet show.

Kaylee also opened her presents from mom and dad at this time.

The kids were loving having JC down on the floor tickling and playing with them.

One of Kaylee's requests for her birthday was to have her dad do a magic show. BJ was such a good sport and put on a hilarious and amazing magic show. I didn't get any pictures only a video of it. I had not laughed that much in a long time. It was fun.

Mom and Dad also did a puppet show for everyone. The kids then put on their own puppet show. We then had pizza and salad for dinner. During our little party Papa Bruce and Aunt JQ stopped by and dropped off a present for Kaylee. She was so excited. Thanks everyone for your support. We have some pretty good family!

Kaylee's small friend birthday party

Beej & Chris

Since we had just recently moved into the apartment we wanted to keep Kaylee's birthday simple. Not to mention, I don't want her to expect HUGE parties every year. She is getting to that age where smaller is better.

We had talked about switching off every other year for a friend and family party, but since the move and having a baby was a lot on the kids- we thought it would be good to let Kaylee have a Special day with two friends.

We set up some balloons and streamers which she LOVED when she woke up.

Kaylee had asked for this Orbeeze Spa for Christmas. We didn't think she would use it much so we ended up getting her something else instead. So, when she asked for it again for her birthday we decided to give it to her. It is a little spa for your feet that comes with these tiny beads that grow in water. You warm up the beads and then soak your feet in it.

It took several hours to grow the beads, so we let it sit in water overnight and then let her try it in the morning. We had wrapped up the box but had the spa in our bathroom hidden....but Kaylee was too curious and went into the bathroom to find it.

Kaylee was told she could only invite two friends. It was hard for her, but she decided to invite Brinlee and Desiree.

We had a SPA day with the girls.

They each picked out the color of nail polish and stickers they wanted on their fingers and toes

They each also got to make their own crown

Daddy was so helpful when I had to hold the baby or when I was helping paint another girls toes. He even gave the girls foot massages. lol

While they were getting their nails done we gave them water bottles and little snacks. They were all just pampered and they of course loved it.

Even Connor got in on the action

Grandma Tenney came when we were finishing painting nails and was their for Kaylee to open her presents and helped get us ready to go to lunch

They each got a necklace, wore their tiara's, pretty nails, and their fancy high heeled shoes that they brought to the party.

Getting all the kids strapped in the car ;)

We then took our fancy outfits and headed to Carl's Junior for lunch and cake.

Challae (Brinlee's mom) joined us with her two kiddos. Connor was excited to have another boy to play with!

Ashlynn came as well. It was one of her first outings. She stayed in the carseat most of the time except for when I had to feed her. She was still on oxygen and her monitor but was doing pretty good.

I took Kaylee to the store to get some water and a few things we needed for that night. She loved walking around all dressed up. She said to me, "Now, everyone will know it is my birthday!" and she loved when people would stop her and tell her how cute she was dressed or when they wished her a happy birthday. One of the ladies from the bakery even gave her a toy ring (that usually goes on cakes) since it was her birthday. She loved feeling so special.

The following Monday after her birthday she got to wear a birthday crown at preschool. Then on Sunday when the bishop called a few youth up to the stand since they turned (12) or (8) she asked me why the bishop didn't call her up to the stand to wish her a happy birthday too. Yes, this girl thrives on attention. She is our Princess for sure, but we love her so much.