My Girls

As I sit here, playing the single mom role while my better half is in NY, feeling my blood pressure rise and wanting to pull my hair out I felt inspired to dwell on how adorable my little girls are.

Little Miss Evelyn has mastered crawling and can do so at the speed of light. Now that that milestone is conquered she has gone on to bigger and faster things. She now stands all by herself and can even walk with something to hold on to. Her big toothy smile blesses our home on a very regular basis! That big toothy grin melts my heart and for both of our sake lowers my blood pressure.

Miss Olivia Mae has filled her places as Big Sister seamlessly. Her inevitable role has brought out her nurturing side as well as her helpful side.Olivia loves helping Ryan and I out by putting her toys away, throwing diapers out, getting things for her sister and helping her out whenever she needs it. Being an independent and fairly self sufficient now 2 year old she thrives upon positive reinforcement and having fun. She has taken a liking to books, The Care Bears, My Little Ponies, Barbies and Babies. Her most recent obsession has been over this little toy camera which she now walks around the house saying "CHEESE" while holding anything up to her eyes... a shoe, one of her ponies, a spoon and if she has nothing near by she uses her forearm.

Although having girls so close in age has plenty of challenges it also has many positives and the biggest of them all is how adorable they are! Nothing helps aid in a quick mood change then Miss Evas dimply and cheeky smile or when Olivia wraps her arms around my neck and lays her head on me. What a wonderful blessing motherhood is to this crazy thing we call life.

Dani

As If Traveling Across The Country With Two Kids Isnt Hard Enough Already...

This last weekend Ryan, the girls and I were making the last leg of our trip. We had already made it to Washington and enjoyed our week plus there and were now headed to Utah to unload everything but the necessities as well as the dog for our trip to San Diego. We were heading down for two weddings and zipping back in time for Ryan to catch his flight back to NY, where he would pack up our entire house and drive back to Utah.

Now if only it had all gone according as planned...

We had been on the road for about three hours with a LOT less luggage and no Zoe. Ryan had called his sister and made plans to meet up for lunch in St George. Ten minutes away from the restaurant Olivia lets out this whine which is followed quickly by vomit. The smell quickly filled the SUV make those last ten minutes a very long ten minutes! Did I mention I had had to go to the bathroom for close to an hour at that point?! Anyhow... we finally get to Red Robin and I leap out of the car for the bathroom and quickly make my way back to help Ryan. Olivia had yet again thrown up this time it was outside of the car. Our little LivieBug had caught stomach bug and continued to throw up for another couple of hours.

Stephanie offered to let me and the girls stay at her house while Ryan continued on to San Diego for one of the weddings. He quickly returned and when he did Olivia was back to her old self... until she decided to walk on 100+ degree pavement and burn her little tootsies!! Her poor tender feet had blistered from walking for about 60 seconds outside with no shoes on. I turned around to a painful squeal and she was waddling back inside with tears streaming down her face.

The next morning I was hit with the stomach bug and finally pulled myself out of bed at around 3. With it being out last day in St George we packed up the car and began to head North to Salt Lake. 2 hours into our voyage home Ryan had to pull over and empty his entire stomach contents on the side of the road... two more pit stops we finally made it back to West Jordan where Ry spent the night on a giant bean bag.

After a day in West Jordan Ryan boarded a plan and headed yet again back to NY. We are now husband/daddyless and will be until Ryan returns with a Moving truck loaded with all of our belongings.

... and the journey continues...

Dani

On The Road Again...

Sorry for being MIA... we have been on the road forEVER now. We left the evening of the 21st and havent stopped moving since. Once we settle down for more than a day or two I am planning on posting pictures and boring details about driving across the country with two little babies and a dog... Im sure that sounds like LOADS of fun to everyone reading this. Rest assured we are all doing well and have enjoyed our journey and time with family and friends.

Dani

Happy Mothers Day!

It is that time of year again... Mothers Day is here upon us! This time around I have TWO beautiful daughters who I marvel at on a daily basis... but I am yet again away from three of the most important women in my life. My amazing Grandmother who is the rock of our entire family. My beautiful Mother who is one of the most loving, loyal and sincere people Ive ever met. As well as my Step Mother who has taught me so many lessons over the mere seven years she has been in my life. They have all been amazing examples to me through out my life and lifted me up in their own unique ways. I am so blessed to have such amazing women in my life who continue to be beacons of light and truth. 

Spending yet again another Mothers Day away from my Mothers makes this year a little bit harder to celebrate... all I want is a hug from them... I guess it will just have to wait a few more months. Until then I just wanted to say... 

Mom... Thank you... 

Sincerely your, 

little angel baby, monkey or piglet on the east coast... Dani

Evelyn's 7 Month Pictures

Miss Eva is growing fast! At 7 months she is sleeping through the night, eating solid foods, sitting on her own, crawling, pulling herself up and even beginning to walk while holding on to things! 

She is continuing to develop more and more of her personality but so much of it is already present. Evelyn is our tenderhearted girl... very loving, sweet, kind, and yearns for feeling of being close and cuddling. 

 Eva has the most heart melting dimple ever... her little two tooth smile melts the heart of anyone within seeing distance. 

Little Miss Eva is our little Peanut. 

Dani

She's a Fixer Upper

A few repairs/upgrades to our home ... 

 Fixing the mess of a plaster job the people did before us. 

After (Looks like a cross between stucco and venetian plaster)

 Before: Hideous "Rainbows" as I call them. 

 Close up view of the "rainbows" on our hipped ceiling. If you got to close the texture would stab you in the head! I know you are jealous!

 Our new entry way from the garage! It was a beautiful shredded astrotuft and carpet tiles before... 

All of the white part was either forest green or brown. It is definitely brighter now!

 The previous owners were definitely rebels when it came to the rules of decorating by putting a bedroom fan in the living room... 

 My handy man in action! You would not believe the intelligence and skill level of the people who installed the previous fan... lets just say a few choice words slipped while uninstalling the old fan.

 Our new fan!!! Hey this one is in fact a living room fan... who would have thought! 

 Finished painting trim... it is called... Coconut Milk! You like?!

 Put up the corner molding boxes so we can put up the crown molding. Its all in the details!

I can safely say we have only made a small dent in the things that need to be done... no worries... I know we can do it!

Many MANY more pictures to come as we tackle the rest of our projects head on! Now if only we had done all of this three years ago we could have enjoyed all of this!

Dani

Little Of This Little Of That...

The New Do... this is my attempt at being "Sassy" ... notice my just take the picture already and get this over with smile. haha.

Watching General Conference (Pictures are kind of late but oh well... )

All three of my girls... Zoe included... Notice Olivias new "smile" ... dont blame me I didnt teach her that! lol

 Ryan "Watching" the girls... I am never surprised ... not any more at least. 

Olivia was SO excited to open her Easter Card this year. I uploaded a video of her on THIS post. 

Miss Eva in one of her Easter Dresses with her first Pigtales!!

Took the girls to see the Easter Bunny... 

Our Impromptu Family Photo... SO glad I decided to wear makeup and nice clothes that day!

Dani