I think I might have a complete meltdown when this girl goes to Kindergarten...

I think I mentioned before that I'm relishing my days with Brinley at home. We didn't put her in preschool when we moved here, so I have her home all day, every day, and when Cam is down for his nap, I have her all to myself. This is some of the cuteness I get to live with...

She loves to build towers

 Sometimes she builds them before she's even out of her jammies :)

 She wants to be a singer/rockstar when she grows up (as well as a sea explorer and an artist) So one day she set up all her stuffed animals to watch her put on a show, because of course, a rockstar needs an audience!

She loves to hear stories about what she was like back when she was "just a kid," and pours through my blog books for hours. 

She is the best big sister and such a helper with Cam during his therapy. She's always cheering him on and helping him learn new things. 

 She is genuinely happy 99% of the time and has the gift of enjoying every moment of life. 

 She LOVES babies, LOVES them! and is always the first to ask to hold one when they're around.

Love this girl SO so much and hopefully one day when she goes back to read the blog book with this post in it, she will know what a ray of sunshine she is in my life :)

Brinley may possibly have the 2 cutest friends in the world...

Since we moved to Chicagoland, Brinley has made two little friends that are so cute I can't help but take pics of them every time they're together.

This is her little buddy Rainier. 

Seriously, how cute is he? and so sweet too! 

He can totally have her number when they're 16... ;)

Foreshadowing of the future: That awkward moment when you're little brother ruins your date by sandwiching himself between you and your crush...

Another indoor playground meet up...

You gotta love a boy who likes to cook!

 This is one of my favorite pics. I asked Rainier if he knew how to crack an egg and he was like, "Oh yeah!" but as you can see by the cracked egg in the batter, he was really just kidding :)

 Cutest cookie makers ever. 

This is her other adorable friend Maddie. These two have so much fun together that after one of their play dates,  Maddie asked Brinley if she wanted to be her sister. So cute!

Love Maddie's shy little shoulder shrug smile. They are two little peas in a pod. 

And all 3 of the musketeers together at ChikFila. 

So happy Brinley has found such good little friends out here. :)

When did my baby get so big?! Teya's 7th Birthday!

Everyone tells you that kids grow up fast, but it still blows your mind how fast it happens when it's your own kid. 

One day they're just a soft squishy little baby

And then suddenly they're this beautiful, amazing, independent little person. 

And you can't believe they went from this....

 To this in what seems like just a blink of an eye. 

My baby girl Teya is 7 years old! Still trying to wrap my mind around that!

 On her birthday she woke up and requested a waffle with strawberries and whipped cream, an egg specifically cooked sunny side up, and turkey sausages. I love that she is such a good eater and loves to have a variety of different foods. 

 Taber had the day off so he took her out on a special Daddy Daughter birthday date where he bought her lunch, ice cream, and a big giant butterfly balloon. She was one happy girl!

 When she got home there was a big care package from Grandma Karen with presents and Easter stuff for all the kids. Nothing makes her happier than getting stuff in the mail. 

For her party she wanted to invite her entire 1st grade class AND have it at our house. I told her she could invite a small group to our house, or invite everyone and have it somewhere that I wouldn't have to clean up afterwards, so she choose to have it at the Jump Zone.

 It turned out to be one of my favorite parties because I hardly had to do any work, and she had SO much fun with all her friends! 

Brinley had fun with her cousins and little friend there too. 

Teya was especially happy that her best Friend-Boy came. Ryan lives on our street and is in her same class at school. He is the sweetest boy and she adores him.

 The whole crew posing for a group photo after jumping. 

 And then it was time for cake! 

The party was a huge success and everyone, even little Cammer, had a great time. 

At her 7 year old well child exam she was in the 20th percentile for weight and 10th percentile for height, so I guess she inherited the "shortest kid in the class" gene from her Mommy :)

At 7 years old she loves playing outside in the snow with her Daddy, and playing make believe games for hours on end with her sister. She loves helping me cook and listening in on grown up conversations and then trying to guess what we're talking about. She asks lots of questions and is very curious about the "Why" behind everything. She doesn't love reading or doing homework but she works hard on it anyway and is making huge progress in school. She loves reading the scriptures and will not go to sleep until we've read them. She also has the biggest most compassionate heart and would give you the shirt off her back if you asked for it. I love this girl so much and am so grateful for the example she is in our family. Happy Birthday to my big girl Teya! Mommy loves you!!

Valentines Day, and my first attempts at Pinterest!

This year for Valentines I wanted to do something different, so I finally gave in and looked at Pinterest. Immediately I knew why I had stayed away from it for so long; Total sensory overload where my eyes are bigger than my actual ability to do anything crafty! Still, I settled on a few simple ideas and actually had some fun in the kitchen. 

I even told Taber he didn't have to take me out to dinner. He was nervous...

 The day before Valentines I spent 4 solid hours in the kitchen making cookies. My plan was to surprise Taber by dropping in on him at work with cookies for him to share with all his coworkers. I figured it never hurts to butter up the people he works with. 

I made white chocolate M&M cookies

And the worlds' most heavenly, divine Reese's peanut butter heart cookies.  Found this on pinterest and it was by far the most delicious thing I have ever made in my life. 

 After baking all day we loaded up the cookies, hid them in the basement, cleaned up the kitchen and washed all the dishes so there would be no evidence of our surprise for the next day.

When Teya got home from school we worked on making Valentines day cards for her class. I got a little too ambitious on this one...

 And we didn't finish till almost bed time. Poor Teya got so burnt out! I learned my lesson and will be keeping it simple next time. 

 On Valentines day Teya got all dressed up in pretty pink.

 I took some kitchen scissors to her eggo waffles and made them into hearts. Pretty fancy, I know. ;)

As we were leaving to take the cookies to Taber's work, there was a knock at the door. 

I had told Taber he didn't need to get me flowers this year...

 But he knows me better and sent some anyway. Glad he read my mind :) The flowers made my day!

There were also two smaller bouquets for the little ladies in his life. Brinley was thrilled. 

 When we showed up at Taber's work, I thought everyone would be drooling over my amazing cookies, but they were too busy drooling over the kids! :) Seriously everyone went gaga over them! They scored some suckers, some pillsbury dough boy toys, and a bunch of other fun souveniers. They were like little celebrities. I think Taber was happy that we came to visit. (and after the kid excitement wore off a little, everyone DID love the cookies :)

After visiting Taber we went to a friends house for a preschool Valentines day party.

 Brinley had so much fun with her new little bestie Maddie. 

 When Teya got home she told us all about the fun they had at school and got super excited over her flowers from Daddy. 

I made us a nice Valentines dinner and once the kids were down I gave Taber his gift.

 It was a love jar I'd been working on for the last 30 days. Each day I would write something down that Taber had done that made me love him. Little things like taking time to make jewelry one day with the girls, or making silly voices to Cam while he brushed his teeth, or coming down to the basement to watch the Biggest Loser with me, even though he's not really into that show. 

It was fun watching him read them because he had forgotten some of the things he did so it was fun to be reminded. 

 Then Taber gave me some amazing chocolate dipped strawberries from the Rocky Mountain chocolate factory. It was the perfect way to end an awesome Valentines Day.