Planty-Planty

For those of you who don't know, Mark and I have a pet plant :) It's a Hibiscus we picked up on our honeymoon in Hawaii just over 4 years ago. When we got it, it consisted of a little stick with two or three little leaves shooting out of it. And now, like our love, has grown into this massive thing. It has beautiful flowers, of which it has produced a total of 3 during all this time. The first was right around Millie's first birthday (two years ago) and then this month it surprised us with two more!

Here is Millie with Planty-Planty and its third flower. Bloom No. 2 died before I got to take a picture of it. As you can see, it is a very large plant (this is just a third of it). I had Millie stand on a chair so I could get both she and the flower in the photo. Does anyone know how I can get this plant to blossom more often?? I'm open to suggestions.

Family Portrait

Hello again. I just wanted to share our family photo. We had it taken in Ephraim a couple of weeks ago when we went to visit my family. I don't think we'll have another picture taken until we have another baby (give me a couple of years), because it was such an ordeal! Millie refused to take her nap that afternoon and so her eyes are somewhat blood shot in the picture. Then when we got to the studio, Millie found a red marker and got it all over her hand (thank goodness for Photoshop!) Ivy took a nap, but then she refused to smile (which is so unlike her). So considering all that went wrong, I think we got a pretty good shot. I think it is just going to get more difficult the more children we have. Too bad. Also, our favorite photographer is moving from Ephraim to Nashville, so we're going to have to find a new one, luckily we have a few years to do that.

Aloha!

Woo, woo! Look at Millie.

Aloha. My mom brought this outfit back from Hawaii for Millie. Doesn't she make the funniest Hula girl ever?! It makes me laugh every time I look at it.

Ivy is nearly 6 months old and just as cute as ever. I am so happy that she is finally getting chubby.

I think she looks like a little porcelain doll here. So angelic and I love her hair.

My brother and sisters say that Ivy looks like a little Asian baby. I can really see it in this picture. Don't you love the pig tales?

One day Millie was bored so I loaded her up the the stroller and we went for a shopping spree around our house. Each room was a different "store" and we made a purchase at each. Her favorite pretend purchase was a dress, so I decided to really take her shopping and got this princess dress, which she absolutely loves. She insisted that we also get some accessories. The drive home nearly killed her. She wanted so badly to don her spoils.

I love when I find Millie playing mommy. It just warms my soul.

I made a trip down to Manti last month for my niece's baptism. Whenever we siblings all get together my mom insists on a photo-op. This is one of the best ones yet. Notice: no on is crying! Left to right: Deanna, me, Alexis, Max, Chris, Mandie, Ariel.

Who's Who?

I just thought it would be fun to compare Millie and Ivy. I didn't realize how much more hair Ivy has. Lucky girl. And wow, Millie was a chubber!

I love my girls.

Feels Like Spring (Finally!)

It was so weird to have Easter in March this year.

It feels like it should be this weekend instead. So with that in mind, here are a couple of pictures of Easter Sunday. This is the first year that Millie didn't get a new dress for Easter, but she didn't mind. She loves this one. Mark and I got it for her last year during a trip to Jackson Hole for our anniversary. It's a size 24 month, but it's still plenty big. Ivy's dress is like-wise too big, so I'm hoping it will fit her all summer.

Here is Ivy with Snowflake. Does anyone remember Millie's Smoochie? Well she loved that bear so much that we wanted the same thing for Ivy and gave her this bear for Christmas.

This was the first weekday in a long time in which Millie actually wore something other than pajamas. I was so excited that I had to document it.

Isn't this photo darling? I had to be quick though because Millie kept running away. We went to Baby Animal Days at the American West Heritage Center a couple of weeks ago. As we were leaving I realized I had only taken one picture of Millie (with an Alpaca I think) since it was difficult to wield a camera and hold a baby (Mark had his arms full keeping Millie from taking off). So while Mark was putting Ivy in the car seat to go home I snapped a few pictures of Millie playing in the parking lot. Good thing it was a cute parking lot :) And in case you're wondering I straightened Millie's hair with a flat iron that day and that's a heart painted on her cheek.

House No. 678

Welcome to our new home. A few people have (OK, just one person has) requested to see the house we recently moved into so here is a mini tour of the place.

This is a shot taken from upstairs. I love my front door and the french doors to the office.

Here is the formal living room, it faces the office across the hall. We just got this swanky leather couch before we moved. I wish you could see it better. Now I would like to get a cool mirror to hang above it on the wall.

As you can see, we are very short on furniture! One day I would love to have a console table to display things on.

My favorite room in the house is the master bathroom -- complete with a vanity, walk-in shower and heat lamps! It's such a luxury after only having one tiny bathroom at Mark's grandma's house.

Oh, and did I mention the claw-foot tub?! I have only bathed in it 3 or 4 times because I rarely find time to indulge in it, but sometimes I will get in (fully clothed) just to brush my teeth :)

And I end all my long days in this wonderful bed. OK, so the bedspread is ugly but it was free. The Tempurpedic mattress is divine and my 400-thread-count, Egyptian cotton sheets are to die for. But my favorite thing of all is that Mark built the bed all by himself and gave it to me for Christmas. I love that man!

My Sweeties!

Life has been crazy lately! I had my film developed several weeks ago and this is the first chance I've had to post them. So here they are:

Here's my Ivy! Isn't she a sweety?! Oh, and she is just such a good baby. So easy-going and happy and is a wonderful sleeper! (10+ uninterrupted hours a night!) I am so blessed. I absolutely enjoyed Millie as a baby, but she was so difficult. I am so glad for a change of pace.

Poor Millie is such a klutz. But this is the first time she has actually caused visible damage to herself. She tripped (on her feet as usual) and hit her face on the corner of the coffee table. I am just so glad that she didn't hit her eye and we didn't have to go to the emergency room.

Millie is going through a phase . . . a very long phase, where she likes to wear her pajamas all-day long. She occasionally gets dressed for the day, but she always end up in either her night gown (shown here) or her "Ariel" the Little Mermaid pj's (worn in the above picture). I am trying not to let this drive me insane. Anyway, as part of her dress-up play one day, she tried on a pair of my shoes. So cute.

This is a funny one. I told Millie to smile but I was watching for Ivy to look at the camera and this was the result. Millie was so good to hold Ivy for this mini photo shoot but as soon as I told her we were finished she let go of her! Luckily, Ivy didn't get hurt. I just love my girls. XOXO.