Mother's Day

Mother's Day this year really reminded me how lucky I am. My little fam went out of their way to make the day special for me and I had so much fun just being with them. On Friday, the kids came home with cute little gifts that they made at school. On Saturday, I came home from taking McKayla to dance and Bodie and Todd had bought me a bunch of flowers and tomato plants for the yard (Todd said he was going to do a bouquet, but figured I could enjoy these longer...I couldn't agree more). The kids and Todd even got them all planted for me before Todd had to go to work. As Todd left for work he handed me a card with some sweet words and then I saw McKayla peaking around the corner and snickering (and I totally couldn't tell she was hiding something behind her back...hehe).
On Sunday, Todd went to work early and the kids and I hung around and slowly got ready for church (this was due to the fact that they had woken up at 6am....too early if you ask mom). They were great in church and went down easy for naps (Woohoo!). We went to my parents for dinner and had a wonderful time...Todd was even able to make it for a little bit :-). Having my own little family is so much more incredible than I ever knew it would be. I love the kids, Todd and animals more than I could ever tell them. They are what brings me the most joy (and  maybe aggravation at times....but hey, that's true love). I'm incredibly proud of each one of them and I feel so blessed to know the unconditional love of motherhood. I appreciate my mom and all she has done/does for me so much more now that I am a mom. I understand the love she has for her children and all that she has sacrificed to give us the best life possible. I only hope I can have the strength and wisdom she has and that one day my children will understand how much they truly mean to me.
One last little thing that I hope they one day can enjoy reading...my current top 5 favorite mommy things...

1. Singing them each their special goodnight songs (McKayla/Ariel, Jasmine, our wedding song, silent night-- Bodie/Twinkle little star, You are my sunshine, Skitamarink)
2. Helping them say their prayers before bed
3. Watching them learn new things/ideas
4. Their smiles, hugs, cuddles and kisses
5. The way they love to make us laugh
6. Watching them play with Todd (oops, I'll call this the bonus one)

School gifts

Coffee Card (this is for those before 6am wake up times the kids have been doing to me)

Planting tomatoes

Sweet cards they made with Todd

Giving GiGi her gift

Feeding the ducks

We always end up in Paka and GiGi's bed

A dance performance

Planting flowers

A couple fun and sweet gifts

McKayla Dance Pictures

McKayla had pictures for her 1st "official" dance performance this week. She LOVED getting all dressed up and even did pretty well while I put real makeup on her (not gonna lie...there were some tears during the eyeliner process). Once she got to the studio she had so much fun bouncing around with her little friends. I CANNOT wait for her performances later this week!!!

FYI--These are just some pics I snapped w/ my phone while we were waiting for the professional photos ;-)

Fun in the sun...and rain

It has really warmed up this past week, but we also got some fun thunderstorms. I must say I love a good warm rain...love the smell, love everything. McKayla was a little shaken by the thunder, but I tried to explain to her that thunder cannot hurt her and gave her some extra cuddles. We also saw a rainbow in front of our house so that definitely took her mind off of being scared. Over the weekend we got some REALLY warm weather and I was able to pull out the pool for the kids. There is nothing better than watching the kiddos play outside in the nice weather...swim time, slide time, playing mailman, picnic dinners,walks (more of me running after them as they drove their car down the street...definitely had the neighbors laughing)...I was one happy momma. 

Post nap snuggles

Weekend Family Time

Last of April

TAPPED out

Can't believe how long her hair is getting

Ski day with Dad at Snowbird

Planting flowers for me

NO more pictures mom :-)

Potty Trained

Well, I think I'm safe to say that Bodie is potty trained! We worked on it all weekend and he was very excited about it. We had a couple accidents due to him being hesitant to do #2 in the toilet, but he finally did it and oh did we celebrate (his treat of choice was a BIG Cookie)! His daycare is all ready to help out and keep us on track so I'm hoping we'll continue on the great path and be done with diapers :-). I can't believe what a big boy he has become in the past few months and how many new things he has learned. He talks so much now and just starting singing his ABCs. He counts like this...1,3,4 and loves to imitate anything McKayla does. He's all boy when it comes to the way he plays (trucks, loud noises, banging, running, ect.), but he'll still give me hugs/kisses/cuddles whenever I ask. He loves to make us laugh and will eat pretty much anything we give him (his food love is any fruit). We are so proud of our little man!!!