8 years ago today my sweet little Nicole joined our family.  I was so excited to see her dark brown hair and beautiful eyes!  She was the sweetest baby and fit right into our family.  Here are 8 things I love about Nicole...Our Olie!  

1. She loves everyone unconditionally.

2.   She has an excitement for life.

3. She works hard to accomplish everything she does.

4. She has a smile that could light up any room.

 5. She loves the water...and pushing people into water, or spraying them with water, or accidentally falling into water. 

6. She is always ready to play or take a good nap.

 7. You may have to remind her a few times to do something, but she is so apologetic when she realizes that she forgot.  As she says, "Oh, darn it.  I sorry.  I forgot."

8. She is not a quitter, and don't ever tell her she can't do it.  She wants to try and be a part. 

 We love you Beautiful Nicole!!  

Blake's 5th Month

Here is a quick update on Blake's 5th month. 

At the end of the month he weighed 13 lbs and 3 oz.

This month we decided to try out the Johnny Jumper and Blake loves it.  The girls would just hang out in this thing, but Blake gets it going.  He is constantly kicking and squirming.  We now call him Bouncy Blake.

Don't let this cute, dimpled face trick you.  He can be a stinker...

For example, this month I decided to get a babysitter for the first time and leave Blake and the girls with a teenager.  I was a little nervous, but desperately needed the afternoon out because Warren was out of town.  The poor babysitter!!  Blake refused to take his bottle.  Claire even called her mom to come and try. So, I came home after the movie and guess what...Blake took the bottle from me.  This has started an awful habit!!

This loveliness has also started.  If you get too close, your hair, skin, cheeks, shirt will get yanked.  And this boy is strong.  And yes, I grabbed the camera  instead of helping Taylor.

Rolling over is now the issue!!

Seriously, why do I worry about this?  When Blake was 16 week old, he rolled over from his back to his stomach  3x in a row and he hasn't done it since.  Why?! He will flap his arms and legs like a beached whale, but will not roll over.

He is getting stronger and does a little mini push up, but will not roll over.  The doctor keeps telling me to relax because he is not worried about it, but I am a stress case and can't stop thinking about it.
Blake likes to be on his stomach and will fall asleep on his stomach, so maybe that is why.

It is almost like Blake wants to sit up or just crawl before he even rolls over.  He will lay on his back and do a tummy crunch trying to sit up.  He will lay on his stomach and move his arms and legs in a swimming position trying to crawl.  I don't know what to do with him.

Warren spends a lot of time outside with Blake.  Blake will fall asleep in his car seat and sleep in the car while Warren makes all sorts of noise in the garage.  Warren was pretty impressed with Blake when he started the dirt bike.  Blake didn't cry or even blink.  He actually liked the loud noise.

BIGGEST NEWS OF ALL...NO MORE OXYGEN!! GOOD BYE EQUIPMENT!!

Now Blake gets to sleep with a fan in his room because he is so used to a sound of the oxygen tank.

OUCH!!!!

 OUCH!! That is all I have to say....

Is it silly that I am totally jealous and so proud? 

Dress up and "Different" Outfits

 These girls are the best of friends.  They love to play all sorts of games.  Right now they are playing Dragon Fairies.  This is a new game where they are fairies riding around on dragons.  They also play games like:
- People who get lost in a Elven World full of dragons, fairies, and elves
- Magical Power Land - Kaylee can do anything with water and turn into a mermaid.  Taylor can turn into a fairy and shoot out poisonous butterflies that kill bad guys.  Nicole can turn into a giant owl and fly over the bad guys to scare them to death.
- Lost Princesses who try and get home
- People who live in the jungle and they have to find things they can make into a home.  They have a lot of pet animals and they have to take care of them.

Taylor and Kaylee get all dressed up in various outfits and Nicole always asks, "Can I play if I am wearing pants?"  Nicole is not one to dress up, but she loves to play the games as long as she can wear her pants.

Here is one example of the girls imagination.  They could not find any crowns, so they made some out of beads, aluminum foil, and hair clips.

Taylor seems to carry her imagination into her daily outfits.  She has to get dressed up "BY HERSELF!!"  I have one rule.  On school days and Sundays, Mommy gets to help her select.  I normally pick out 3 outfits and she can choose from those.  She also wants to do her own hair, and the same rule applies.  I get to help on Sunday and school days.

 As Taylor asks..well she actually tells me, "Mom this matches because it is pink."

 Here is our beautiful bride with her horse Coco. 

Taylor has tied my scarf around her head for beautiful long hair and her jammie dress makes a wonderful long skirt.

This looks to me like some sort of orphan Annie outfit because the girls also love to play "Annie."  But unfortunately, this is an outfit that they wore all day long.  I don't have the heart to tell them to change because they feel so proud of themselves when they pick out a new outfit. It is one of those things I let go.  I have more important things to worry about...like making sure they even have clean clothes to wear.

Happy Anniversary

I can't believe it.  Warren and I have known each other for 14 years and have been married for 13!! CRAZY!!  I remember seeing him playing the guitar at a ward talent show and yes, he had the hair that I always have loved.  I am so glad he asked his dad about me and than asked me out.  

It didn't take long for us to realize we liked each other ALOT! 

Here we are 13 years later and he still makes me blush...such a handsome guy!!

My Little Hoarder

Taylor has a serious hoarding problem.  I find bags of stuff everywhere.  When we leave the grocery store, she grabs a plastic bag from the racks and than fills it with stuff when we get home.  Sometimes I find, 5 grocery bags full of every single book we own.  She is shopping!?  I will also find bags full of what looks to me like trash, but they are artwork masterpieces.

Here is one example...what do you see?  Markers, hair things, pencils, ribbon, silly bands, a "masterpiece."
Taylor also loves purses and owns anywhere between 5-20, mainly because she takes my old purses, any bags, or old backpacks and converts them into her purses.  If we are missing leggings, tights, hair clips, glue, scissors, etc...it is time to look through Taylor's many bags.  

Taylor will also turn anything into a necklace.  This is a door stopper with a ribbon attached to it.  It makes a beautiful necklace don't you think?

Blake's Blessing

I am doing some serious catch up.  I forgot how much time you spend nursing a baby, holding a baby, etc.  But now that Blake is older, I finally feel like I have some time to catch up on some missed events.

On January 1st, we blessed Blake.  

Warren only allowed a few pictures of Blake with his hat on because Warren thought he looked a little odd.  I liked it.  He looked like a sweet little baby to me wearing a warm little hat, but Warren won and Blake was blessed without the hat.

Mollie and Paul came down for the blessing. Pat came for a quick weekend trip and we were able to go see "West Side Story" in Denver on Saturday afternoon while Mollie watched Blake.  It was a great show.  One of my favorites!!

It was a wonderful blessing and Blake was awake the entire time.  Apparently, his eyes were moving from side to side checking everyone out.  His eyes were pretty fixated on our friend Hans Egbert because he was wearing a white shirt that stuck out among the darker colors.  He didn't make a noise, but was very alert.

Warren took Blake home after sacrament meeting because it took us awhile to take Blake anywhere...in fact, we just started going to church as an entire family on Easter Sunday.  I was pretty protective because of his oxygen and premie status.

Anways, back to Blake's blessing.  Warren took some pictures of Blake when he got home.  Of course, Blake scratched his face..but he still looks adorable!!