Before Utah

It seems like the month between the end of the worst semester of dental school and our month long trip to Utah in June was a complete blur. I know we played some volleyball, went for lots of walks with friends, hit up the zoo a few times, and spent a lot of time out at the park. I have no pictures any of it so you'll have to take my word for it. What I can prove...

 These two started interacting with each other a lot. Kenzie has always smothered Clara but it started to be reciprocated a bit.

The days of them sharing a room without issues completely ended! Mackenzie loves to climb into bed with Clara and she's known to wake her up as much she can. They also can't fall asleep together as they just want to stay up until midnight playing.

 Kenzie did a little tumbling class with my friend Kassie. She absolutely loved it. I can't say that she was always attentive or showed great aptitude but she did better than I expected and let Miss Kassie help her with most of the elements.

Right before we left, Elder Bradford stopped by to say goodbye. Keith's been the ward mission leader for a little over a year and Elder Bradford served in our ward for about 9 months so we knew him pretty well. We've been lucky to have several good elders lately who have finally motivated (harassed) me to finish my mormon.org profile. Keith's was done months ago of course, I just had a hard time sitting down and doing it. I'm so glad I finally took the time to finish it. It's always good to ask yourself those basic questions of "Why am I a Mormon?" and "How do I live my faith?"

Being Belle

Our friends saw this dress at a yard sale and thought of us. A phone call, a little bartering and $1 made us proud owners of a dress that retails for more than anything in my closet. Kenzie couldn't have been more excited to receive such a beautiful dress. It's deals like this that keep me out on Saturday mornings and make me grateful for friends with boys:)

Sunday Morning

 Sunday mornings can be crazy. Keith has meetings starting at 9 and then comes back for us girls with little time to spare before we need to be there for 1 PM church. This Sunday, I managed to get everyone ready with time to spare so we snapped a few pictures. Clara was the most cooperative. I'm lucky to have married a handsome man who gave me such beautiful children.

Clara at 7 Months

 Clara is always up for cuddling after a bath 

Love her blue eyes

 How can I not be obsessed with this face? This girl is so unbelievably sweet. She's very calm and loves to be held. She's great at sitting up and has no interest whatsoever in crawling which makes my life so very easy.

Clara is very social. She will stare a person down with wide eyes and an open mouth until they acknowledge her. Upon acknowledgment, she'll reward you with a big smile. Crowds make her excited and outside is her favorite place to be 

She rarely cries and when she does it's usually because Mackenzie has knocked her over, hit her on the head, squeezed her too tight, ect. She also has 5 teeth with her 6th coming through any day and that tends to disrupt her sleep and make her sad.  

In the morning, she usually wakes up around 5 AM  to nurse. I bring her into bed for it and if we're lucky, we both fall back to sleep. Many times she won't or she'll wake up an hour later and she'll wake me up by stroking my face and cooing. It's the sweetest thing and I treasure those early morning hours the most.

I painted her toenails for the first time this past week. Kenzie took the reins and painted all of her nails by herself. She was pretty proud. Clara loves Kenzie more than anyone. She gets really excited to see her in the mornings and will play with her all day as long as she's playing nice. 

Clara loves to eat! She will eat anything but  food that is green. I'm not sure her physical stats, she seems on the longish side with plenty of squishy chub to squeeze. I do know that she has a sweet pure spirit that we enjoy having in our home. I'm so grateful to be her mom!

Silly Kenz

Easter 2012

 We started Easter off with an egg hunt put on by our apartments on Saturday morning. Keith was at school doing his thing so I took the girls out and we had a fun time. Kenzie was hesitant (crying, panicking) at first but once I showed her the candy in the eggs, she was all for it.

These are just a few of the kids in our ward in the complex. It's so fun to have a lot of playmates for Kenzie and great mom friends for me.

Kenz, Lily and Sawyer.
By the way, you like Kenzie's outfit? She totally dresses herself about 98% of the time

Clara didn't mind hanging out in the grass

 
 Easter morning, The girls were happy to find baskets with a few goodies. The day before, we went to the Stucki's house to dye Easter eggs. I had just decided to cook an Easter lunch for Sunday and invited them over to share it with us. Best idea ever! I made the ham and Sarah made all of the sides. It was so yummy and relaxing but kind of made us sleepy for Church.

Church was wonderful. I think I'm the most grateful for my religion and beliefs on important days like Christmas and Easter. The Holidays are fun to celebrate, but the message they carry always turns hearts to the Savior and what's really important in this life.

A first year wife, Brynn, put together an Easter egg hunt and Mexican confetti egg fight? It was really fun and I want to make confetti eggs next year.

No family photo for us on Easter. I didn't have anything new to wear, Kenzie wouldn't wear her Easterish dress, and Keith changed immediately so I just didn't bother. 

A Little Princess

 To say Mackenzie loves Princess's and dressing up would be an understatement. She has worn her dress up clothes ragged and yet, there is something ethereal about them and I can't let them go. Each tattered piece I cut off of this Cinderella dress only reminds me that someday she won't have the beautiful imagination she does and I want her to revel in it as long as she can.