Sumo Ami

Vanessa & Fam

This Ought to Make You Laugh...

Rachael Ray: murderous cannibal! Punctuation does matter!


I think this magazine needs a new editor!

6 Month Appointment

Amelie had her 6 month dr. appointment today. She got weighed and measured. She is in the 30th percentile for her height and the 80th percentile for her weight! My little short and stout baby! Looks like she got her mommy's genes! Abbi and Jack were always chunky but always in the 90th for height so it's funny to have a little shorty!




Love that excited face!

Vanessa & Fam

6 months

I can't believe she is six months already! She had her half birthday on St. Patrick's day. She is such a happy baby! She weighs in at about 18 pounds! We love this baby girl!

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Caught Singing in the Tub

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Love That Laugh!

Abbi and Kami love trying to get Amelie to laugh...

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Roller Babies!

Our ward has a tradition of an annual roller skating party. This is the first year I have been. I think I have always been pregnant when this thing "rolls" around! We had so much fun! I wish I had more pictures! I had the kids wheels tightened so they could just walk with their skates. Eventually Jackson took his off and just ran laps on the rink next to me. I pushed Amelie in the stroller (I learned this trick when Abbi was a baby). She had a great time strolling along in comfort with an unobstructed view of mommy! Paul carried Abbi around the rink while skating, which was exhausting to watch. Abbi was just so excited to see all of her friends outside of church all together. She's such a social, friendly little thing always running up and hugging her friends. And everyone is this girl's friend. She is not selective yet, thank goodness. Kami came with us and had a great time getting her bearings on wheels and holding hands with Kate and doing very slow laps! Her and Abbi pretty much just held onto the stroller while we did laps. The girls had a sleepover afterward. So fun! So glad my kids have cousins nearby. It's how I grew up and I wouldn't have it any other way!


Abbi having a good time...


Wish this was a better picture...her face is priceless!





Two of my sweet, adorable Activity Day Girls! How I love them!



Paul showing off his stuff on the in line skates. You can tell most of the men in our ward grew up in the 90's!

Kami venturing out on her own! I was so proud of how brave she was.

Overall a wonderful night! I love our ward and how willing everyone is to help each other out. It really is like a big family!

Vanessa & Fam

DONUT DASH

This morning we ran, I mean briskly walked, I mean walked the Donut Dash in Sacramento. It is a charity to benefit Sutter Life, which makes hospital stats for children more enjoyable. They are great! My sister Brandi and her kids came to. It was freezing cold, but great fun and great company. It started raining as we crossed the finish line! We walked four miles and ate four donuts. Well I had two donut holes. That was all I could handle after walking 4 miles!



Ok I only look so fat here because I have 5 shirts, a hoodie, a jacket, and a donut shirt on over all that. So don't ask if I'm preggers ok?











Vanessa & Fam

My Milkshake Brings all the Babies to the Town...

(please forgive my appearance here...I was really really really sick)

I Will Follow God's Plan

The primary children have been learning "I will follow God's plan" this year. My mother in law is the primary chorister and she does a great job teaching the songs. Abbi learned this in two Sundays! (please pardon the outfit and hair, she just got out of the tub)

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Ghosts

This is what my little ghosts look like when they get out of the tub...




Cute, no?

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Sleepy Soup

I made some home made chicken noodle soup on Sunday and apparently it has the ability not only to cure illness, but also to put little boys to sleep. He was eating on Daddy's lap and 2 seconds later...


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Carnival

Paul really hates carnivals and fairs! He doesn't like the rides, the food, or the carnies. He prefers the wholesome goodness, family fun and general cleanliness of Disneyland. And who can blame him? But me? I'm a sucker for these things! I love the rides brought in on a trailer, set up in 15 minutes, covered in vomit; the fried (any-kind-of-food-you-can-think-of-I-had-no-idea-you-could-fry-that?) food; and all the nice carnies with missing teeth who you can barely understand even though you know they are speaking your language! I love it all!

So naturally when I saw this little mini carnival in our mall parking lot I knew I had to drag Paul and the kids along so I could have some fun!

The first ride I took the kids on was the teacups. Now these aren't your ordinary Alice's cups and saucers! I was able to spin these SUPER fast and then not slow down so fast! Let's just say I may have scarred my kids for life! They were both screaming half way through the ride, things like "get me off!" "I'm all done!" "I don't like this!" and "I want to go home!" They were holding each other tight and I'm pretty sure I saw tears in their eyes. I felt so bad and they were hesitant to go near the rides after that. I know, I'm a terrible mother!


Abbi cried getting on the train after the teacups, but she got over it and started having fun!



This was buddy's favorite ride, the "penguins!" they were really whales, but I can definitely see where the confusion comes from!


Ah, so relaxing!


Abbi enjoyed the slow pace of these jeeps with really annoying horns!

Buddy enjoying the penguins:

I was so shocked that Abbi actually made it down the slide! I was 99% expecting to have to hike up those stairs and carry her down. I was so proud of her! She wouldn't go near this at the state fair. This was my favorite when I was a little girl and my mom took me to the Del Mar Fair so it was really fun to see her enjoy this!

I'm only bummed that I didn't get any pictures of the Carnies. They did not disappoint!

Overall I think the kids had a great time (despite the terrifying teacup catastrophe). The evening ended with 2 screaming kids wanting to do more rides and games, 2 exhausted parents and 1 good baby in a stroller (not pictured...sorry Amelie). I call that a success!

Vanessa & Fam

Chores

Abbi has taken to doing "chores" around the house lately. But only the chores she likes to do, such as, dishes, sweeping, mopping, and anything involving a rag and spray bottle. Chores she would rather not do include cleaning up her dress-ups, putting her shoes away, putting toys away, pretty much putting anything away! But we actually have a pretty good system going. She rinses the dishes off (while Buddy plays in the water) and I load them in the dishwasher. I hope this enthusiasm continues when she's older.


I caught her in action here. In her Sunday best even!


And finally a pose for the camera...


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Shakes and cousins

These two love to hang out with their cousins. We are so lucky to live so close to almost all of their cousins! Here they are with their cousins at Taylor's, the local burger & shake joint!





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Sitter

Amelie is starting to sit up. She's definitely wobbly, but she's getting there!









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My Lap...

It's the favorite seat in the house right now!


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Golden Years

“Parents, remember that now is your opportunity. You may feel yourself harassed as you struggle through the days with children, but you are living the happiest and most golden years of your life. As you tuck them into their beds at night, please be kind to them. Let them hear a kind voice amid all the angry, vile voices that they will hear throughout life. Let there be an anchor to which these little ones can turn when all else fails. The Lord will help you as you do so…” ~Harold B. Lee









Sent from my iPhone


Vanessa & Fam

My Little Monkeys at the Zoo!

We went to the Folsom Zoo today. It was nice. It took a whole 20 minutes to see all the animals! I grew up in San Diego and worked at the Wild Animal Park as a teenager so it's kind of hard to be impressed by any zoos. But I thought for the location and space they had a pretty good selection. I think our favorite animals were the peacocks that had free range of the zoo and kept flying over our heads. It must have been peacock mating season because all the males were showing off for the girl birdies. That really scared buddy, but Abbi my little wild life photographer to be got right in there! No fear! One of the peacocks lost a feather and Abbi got to take it home! When I asked Buddy what his favorite animal at the zoo was he said, "um, scared!" that pretty much sums it up for him. Haha.



The real highlight was probably the park next to the zoo. That alone was worth the drive! It was a cute little western themed park complete with ponies, a covered wagon, saloon and general store! Adorable! They also have this cute little train you can ride for $2, but I lost the cash in my back pocket so we couldn't ride. The kids were bummed, but at least we will have something to go back for!

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This Looks Comfy...

Only a child of mine would fall asleep literally stuffing his face!


Mid pretzel, on his knees...talk about fighting it, he wouldn't even lay down!


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The Prince and Princesses Visit Fairytale Town

Amelie has been sleeping through the night for about a week now (I know I'm totally jinxing myself by writing this!) so I've been feeling pretty good lately. I decided to take the kids to Fairytale Town which they love and haven't been since Grandma Raine watched them in June so it was a big treat! They had a great time!





Abbi thinks she can jump as high as a goat because her head hit the 4' mark when she jumped.





Buddy riding the horse. He thought it was like a carousel and kept waiting for the "up down"





Crawling through cheese! What could be better? That's always been my dream!





Posing for a picture...her favorite thing to do these days.





Climbing a giant foot...not a dream of mine!





No side saddle for this little lady.





Buddy and me snuggling in Cinderella's pumpkin carriage.











I couldn't get enough of these Magnolia Trees. There were tons of them! Gorgeous!











This is what Amelie did pretty much all day...





But it was her first time out in the big stroller without her car seat! Big stuff!

Having her first piece of chocolate ice cream sandwich...





Do you think she liked it?

On the way home...





And they lived Sleepily Ever After!
The End!

Vanessa & Fam