July 2018

I am officially the worst blogger ever right now BUT I have been keeping my Chatbooks semi-updated and I figured I would just start with the last month and we can just try to stay updated from here on out so I'm not overwhelmed with trying to remember all the details from the last month. Life, man!! So busy. So many great things I want to accomplish. And I want to document them all.

July has been a super busy month as usual, but I was sick the entire first two weeks of it with a nasty cold so I was was pounding the cold meds and just trying to stay alive through the 4th of July. I became great friends with the Neil med sinus rinse and I couldn't taste a thing for a solid week. Fun times!! Moms should get immunity no matter what, no questions asked. We had a BBQ at Heather's and then went to the stadium of fire on the 4th of July. My mom and Steve's are saints and watched the twins that night so we could go in peace and it was WONDERFUL. We saw One Republic and they were SO SO good. Like so good. Did I mention they were good?

That weekend, we went up to my mom's house for a BBQ then to the rodeo up there. The twins were exhausted and Goldie slept absolutely horribly, so we were all zombies the next day. Jocelyn was here though and I always love when she's here. We snuck away for a snow cone and I love my sister time. We always stop and get dinner on our way home from the airport, then come home and put the twins to bed and eat it. I love our little traditions that we are building.

We left for Lake Powell on Sunday morning and the fact that we have a DVD player in our car made it a pretty easy ride. The twins are now forward facing in their car seats and since we finally figured out to make the DVD player work so I didn't have to lean back and push "play" on our phones literally every 30 seconds which made driving anywhere with the babies a total fun time ;) Lake Powell was pretty good! I think my favorite part of the whole trip was when we first got there and we switched into our bathing suits and Goldie and Harris were both jumping into the lake and giggling so hard and saying, "AGAIN! Again!!" every time they would jump in from the floating mat into the lake to their daddy. This was the first time that Goldie ever did that because up until then she was very timid in the water. She just got right in and played like it was 2nd nature!

I slept with both babies in a bedroom and Goldie, again, slept horribly (like literally woke up every hour the first time) which leads me to the conclusion that we are never going anywhere. Ever again. But that's seriously how I feel right now ;) Traveling was carefree before the babies but it's quite the task when you're running on a no sleep and you just feel in your heart of hearts that someone should actually be PAYING you to travel with kids instead of the other way around ;) There were some good moments, though. I loved when Harris and Goldie literally snuggled up with their cousins to watch Cars. Harris put his cheek on Ryker's shoulder and it was adorable.

Harris and Goldie turned TWO on the 13th!! We had just gotten home from Lake Powell and I was literally completely wiped out from the 4th of July sleeping fiasco and the Lake Powell sleeping fiasco that we just took the babies to Target for their birthday with my mom and Steve and let them pick out some toys! We will do a bigger party for them next year...and I'll try my best to not to spend the night anywhere so I actually have enough energy to do...well, anything. Grammy took the babies on dates to get some toys, too. They had a great time and they were spoiled. They are both talking SO MUCH, especially little Goldie who says the funniest things. She's hilarious. I love their interactions with each other. They are adorable and perfect and we are beyond lucky to have them.

This summer, we have gone to multiple splash pads in our area and the babies have loved it. We went to the Alpine splash pad recently and it was too big for them (too much splashing and dumping buckets, etc) so after about 30 minutes I packed up and we went to the Highland splash pad/river and they loved it. We went again yesterday after my bike ride and it happened to be Highland days which I didn't know so there was a parade and only one other family was there when we first got there and it was AMAZING. Tyler and I went to see Newsies last night, then dinner at Pei Wei. We all know how much I love me some Newsies!

I also got out for a girl's night with Trisha and Ashley on Thursday. We went to Rachel's first big warehouse sale after we had Cubby's, then we went shopping at the mall and Home Goods. We are headed up to my mom's house tonight for dinner and I'm excited. We love Gram Gram's and Pop Pop's house!

Weekly Update

I have gotten SO behind on updating this blog since A Slice of Style has taken off. Keeping track of our personal life is so important to me, though, so I'm going to attempt to do a weekly update!

Monday was New Year's Day, so after the babies had their bottles, we loaded up our car, picked up the new snowmobile I got Tyler (I know, right? I'm totally the best wife ever) and headed up the mountain to meet up with my mom and Steve to go snowmobiling. Harris and Goldie had never gone before. We bundled them up in their Costco snow suits, white beanies and then let them wear our goggles. Harris was in HEAVEN. He would sit on the snowmobile and wait for Tyler when he was talking to us and my mom and Steve. It didn't matter to him if it was going or not, as long as he was with his dad. It was so cute!! He is definitely the absolutely perfect son for Tyler and I can see many adventures ahead for them. Goldie was a little more stressed out by the whole thing. She did okay but we could tell that she didn't like it quite as much, especially with her goggles on.

We bummed around on the hill for a bit and then it was time for Harris and Goldie's nap, so my mom and I left just as Steve's kids were showing up. We drove back down which took about 30 minutes and I couldn't keep H and G awake. They would laugh at me when I do something funny but they wouldn't keep their eyes open which ruined their nap when we got back to the house. We played with Gram Gram and made some snacks like pigs in a blanket. It was a fun night.

It was nice to get back into our schedule this week after the holidays. We had a fun little photoshoot at the house on Wednesday for Pampers. We are going to do a post about how we named Harris and Goldie, so I printed out a couple of pictures of Harris Parcell and Grandma Emma. It's the sweetest thing! I'm working on a really big infertility fundraiser with the girls that started Bundled Blessings Fertility organization that I spoke at a few months ago. We are bringing the fundraiser to Utah and I couldn't be more excited to help more people!! We had our call on Thursday night and we are praying that we can find a good venue.

I looked forward to Tyler and I's date night all week!! It's something that is so important for our relationship and I love spending time with him and catching up. We went to dinner at an Asian restaurant called Zao Asian Cafe and it was really good; I got the Thai yellow curry dish. We saw Jumanji in the theater and shared half kettle corn and half regular popcorn. I love Tyler's lighthearted personality. He is such a fun person to be around.

Yesterday morning I went to work out at Orange Theory for an Instagram post, and then Tyler went and cleaned the church. Later in the evening we took Harris and Goldie to the Museum of Natural Curiosity at Thankgiving Point and they had a BLAST!! It was SO much fun to watch them walk around and discover everything. Last time we took them was in the early summer and they couldn't really walk then. It's a whole new world now! There is a section for children under 3, and there is a tiny slide. I put Goldie on my lap and slid down and she had the best belly laugh! Harris walked up the stairs and slid down it like it was no big deal. It was adorable to watch him like a big boy! Goldie walked up the stairs and slid down on her tummy. They were so cute! They slept in until 9 am this morning; I think it wore them out and we loved getting extra sleep!

Church is now at 11 am this year which is SUPER nice. It's fun because Clayton and Whitney live in our basement so they are going to start coming with us. Hopefully Harris, Goldie and Clark will entertain each other. Tyler bore his testimony today with Harris in his arms, and then I went up with Goldie. Goldie was laughing and making faces the whole time, and then tried to start talking at the same time as me into the microphone, so it was like we were having two conversations at the same time. It was a little hard to focus on my testimony if you can imagine that! She was hilarious and I'm sure people paid more attention to her than to me :)

Tonight, we took a little family walk in the cold up to the Crossley's house to borrow sugar and then made chocolate chip cookies. Harris wanted me to hold him the entire time, so I did, and I'm hoping my left arm has giant muscles after that. He is a big boy! He was so cute that I couldn't put him down though. He was such a good boy not touching anything, just observing the whole process. He loves it when I hold him so he can see me cook.

Tyler took off Harris' shirt for dinner, and then Goldie's, and they were both running around squealing and so delighted! After dinner (and after they both threw a ton if it on the floor as usual), we went up the stairs to our bedroom and just hung out for a bit. Harris and Goldie are so funny!! H wanted Tyler to pick up and toss him on the bed and he would laugh and laugh. They are so cute I can't even handle it. I love their precious little bodies and fun little personalities.

I signed Harris and Goldie up for a music class that starts in a couple weeks and I am so excited for it! They are so adorable and they absolutely LOVE music. They will start to wiggle and move when I turn on music and I love it! Goldie will even copy how I sing sometimes and she will dance when I sing.

Some funny and cute things lately:

- Harris found my sunglasses and wanted me to put them on his face. He grinned and thought he was so cool! He also loves his hat ever since Cancun and is so adorable when he wants us to put it on.
- We had a rug rolled up by our back door and it fell on the ground. Harris started balancing on it like a tight rope walking back and forth and I could tell he thought he was so cool. It was ADORABLE!
- Goldie was crying for some reason, and Harris went and got her little pink blankie and brought it to her, then handed it to her. It was SO SWEET. He is such a good brother.
- I brought Goldie up to her crib for nap time, then walked back downstairs to get Harris. I said, "okay, Harris, let's get your blankie." He walked over to his blankie that was by the highchair on the floor, picked it up, then walked back to me to be picked up and taken for his nap. He is so smart!
- When I lay Harris down for his nap or to go to bed, he will wave "bye" to me sometimes. I can't even handle how cute that little hand is waving goodbye to his mama.
- When Harris gets excited, he wiggles his head back and forth fast and giggles and it is so cute that I kind of want to wake him up right now and snuggle him. Almost. He also breathes out of his mouth loudly and fast when he's excited and it's one of my favorite sounds. It sounds like a little puppy dog and I just love that blonde headed little boy!
- I love it when I am taking them up for their nap or to go to bed at night because I will lay their blanket on my shoulder and chest and they will rest their heads on my shoulder. It is the sweetest thing to feel their sweet little bodies against mine.
- I love it when I'm upstairs doing something and I can hear Harris and Goldie absolutely squeal in delight when Tyler is playing with them. They are so in love with their dad and it makes me so happy!

Goldie's First Sick Day

Goldie has been sick for about a week with a cold, but I think she had the flu starting yesterday because she threw up a couple times and today she was pale, had a bit of fever, slept in until 10 am and literally snuggled with Tyler and I on the couch the entire day. She fell asleep on both of us a couple times and was so sweet I could hardly handle it!! Oh, my sweet girl. I'll remember this day my whole life. Her little sounds and cuddling up right on top of me. She loved it when I would lightly rub her back. Her little body is so tiny and I'm obsessed with her! Harris would come up and smile at her and make sure was okay. He is the sweetest little boy on the planet. He would also climb on his train and push his way across the floor as fast as he could. He also got through the baby gate today and he climbed up halfway up the stairs...Tyler didn't even see him do it!! Luckily I was coming down the stairs and got him! He's SO smart and can figure so many things out. I love that baby boy.

Harris and Goldie are 11-Months-Old!

Harris and Goldie are now 11-months-old and all I need to keep saying to myself is, "don't blink!" WOW! The baby stage goes by so incredibly fast and they seem more like a little girl and a little boy than they do babies now.

Some of my favorite things:

- Goldie makes an "O" shape with her mouth and gets really, really excited about so many different things, including the lights on the stove and microwave. I was holding herin church today and she was entertaining everyone behind us with her funny facial expressions, sweet smiles and laughs.
- Harris is an explorer and LOVES being able to look at and touch everything in site. He army crawls across the floor really fast like a spider and he's the cutest baby boy with those blue eyes. I love how chubby and big he is.
- I love holding Harris while he looks outside at the workers across the street or the garbage truck. He is such a boy! He studies them and looks intently with those big blue eyes.
- Tyler pokes Goldie or Harris' head around the corner at the bottom of the stairs when I'm in the kitchen so that when I look over, I only see their head poking around the corner. It's the sweetest thing! They normally have a big smile for their mama.
- I love that they both breathe out of their mouths when they are focusing really hard. Harris makes this "puff" sound out of his mouth right now and it's adorable.
- Goldie is our dancer girl! Not just with music on the radio, but when I'm singing a song, I'll look over and she'll be dancing to whatever I'm singing even without music! She shakes her little body back and forth and it's so sweet. This is not something we taught her; she just does it!
- I was holding Harris on the front lawn the other day and he was waving at everything. He knows that "hi" means that he should wave and he loves it!

We had a great week this week! Tyler is heading to trek tomorrow so he has been busy as a bee packing up everything that he needs. He is currently wearing black cozy Ugg boots that he just found in his closet with shorts and a black tee shirt.

We love our Tyler! It is his first Father's day and he's the best dad to Harris and Goldie. They literally squeal and smile when he comes home because they know that they are about to have a good time. I always knew that he would be an incredible dad, and he has of course exceeded all of my expectations. It's father's day, and I was absolutely exhausted, so he let me take a 2.5 hour nap. ME! Whew I needed that. I've been going to Karve which is this really intense barre workout and I didn't miss a day this week. It has been hard but I'm almost finished losing all of my baby weight which I am really happy about. It has been SUCH a hard thing to do!! I have worked with a nutritionist and I'm starting to feel really good.

We went to the temple with Tyler's family on Tuesday night. Lindsay and Katelin are in California for the summer so it was the rest of us. We went to eat at Milagro's afterward and it was great. My mom watched the babies. She took them over to Steve's mom's house then they all went to a concert in the park. We went to visit our friend Ali on Thursday who has triplets and had the same doctor as us. It was so much fun to watch all of the babies together! They are so cute. I took the babies to eat lunch at Texas Roadhouse with my mom, Katelyn and my grandpa. Goldie and Harris seriously loved it! They were looking around at all of the lights and Goldie was saying "oooohhhh!!" When Tyler got home from work, we went to dinner at a little Asian place and brought Harris and Goldie's food. They sat in the highchairs and it was adorable to see them there! They are such little people now!

Saturday was a sad day as we went to Oakley's sister's baby's funeral. They found out that he had anencephaly at 20-weeks so they knew he would not survive. They delivered him full term and he was a sweet little angel. After the funeral, we went to get Harris and Goldie's first high chairs at IKEA. They loved them! My dad came over for Father's Day dinner at our house and they sat facing each other, laughing and eating little bits of food. Well, Harris ate bits of food and Goldie played with it. She's not a big texture girl! We grilled kabobs, had fruit and salad and corn on the cob. Katelyn and Jared came over too.

I woke up early today to make Tyler a big Father's day breakfast of bacon, strawberries and German pancakes. I dressed Harris in a little outfit where the tie said, "Happy First Father's Day" and I have been SO excited about it for months! We went to church then Tyler took the babies home to nap while I went to Sunday school. Tyler then came back for his young men's class. We played with the babies and took pictures after church, then we all took naps. Tyler woke up with the babies and let me keep sleeping for 2.5 hours. I was literally EXHAUSTED!!

Katelin's Wedding Week + Easter Sunday!

It was such a fun and VERY busy week! Like I said, we had family pictures on Tuesday night at the Salt Lake Temple. On Wednesday morning, we went to the temple. One of Heather's friends who has 17-year-old twins watched them. That night, the sisters hosted a bachelorette party for Katelin at Rachel's house. I made the invitations at Minted, Rachel was in charge of decorations and desserts from Sweet Tooth Fairy, Heather brought the sandwiches and Lindsay made the fruit salad and did the video of Cam for Katelin. Katelin was hilarious and it was such a fun night. We walked accross the street to Emily's to do dirty dancing in her gym taught by Kate's friend Erica and it was SO hilarious. It was the perfect party for Katelin!

On Thursday during the day, we got our nails done. Harris was holding the bottle of nail polish that I brought and he dropped it and it shattered all over the floor. Oops!! That night was their wedding dinner at La Jolla groves. It was gorgeous and delish! Michelle watched the babies so they could go to bed on time and we could have an easy night.

Friday was the wedding! It was at 12:45 pm at the Salt Lake temple so we drove up and fed the babies their 12 pm feeding in the parking garage. Tyler had Rin, a girl that works at his office, watch the babies and walk them around in their stroller while we were in the sealing. It was beautiful, and what stood out most to me was that the sealer was sealed by President Hinckley back when he was an apostle. The sealer was Elaine Dalton's husband (the general young women president for the church), and he said that President Hinckley said that we should live our lives in such a way that we can approach the Savior for help out of repentance and not of mercy. I loved that.

We took pictures outside while my mom walked the babies around in their stroller. It was 2 pm so it was their nap time and they fell asleep. Kate's dress was GORGEOUS!! After pictures, we walked over to City Creek and ate at the food court with my mom because we didn't have much time. We then drove up to Sundance and changed in the car. I fed the babies their bottles in the back seat while Tyler drove. The reception was beautiful! My favorite part was the amazing florals. Wendy, the woman that did ours, did theirs too. The babies were SO GOOD all day! I can't believe how well they did. They were happy and sweet and liked dancing! Goldie took a nap in my arms because she didn't get a very good second nap. They were both happy and smiley even though they went to bed WAY past their bed time. Tyler and I love having our two buddies with us.

Yesterday we did some work around the house and we both went to the gym (at separate times because we have kids now ha ha) and I got in a great workout. I'm trying really hard to lose the last of my baby weight and I have about 5 pounds left. I worked out with Lindsay in St. George really hard last weekend and it made me realize that I need to push myself more at the gym if I want to see results! Last night we drove up to West Valley to see McKell and Richard's new baby Hartley. She has a head full of dark hair and she's so little!! I seriously cannot believe how fast these babies grow. It boggles my mind. On the way back, I called Summit Inn Pizza and placed our order, then Tyler dropped me off to grocery shop at Harmon's while he picked it up. We then ate our pizza in the car so we could feed Harris and Goldie when we got home. They ate some solids (veggies) and drank a bit of their bottles then we put them to bed.

Today is Easter Sunday! We went to church then took our Parcell Sunday Selfie outside afterward by some pretty plants. The babies got their first Easter baskets. I put in some eggs that weren't filled with anything ha ha and some books. Harris seriously loved his! It was adorable! He kept grabbing the eggs out but didn't love the grass. And Goldie was kicking her legs and so excited! We went to dinner at my grandpa's tonight. I sure miss my grandma but it was nice to spend time with the family!

Harris has been rolling over like crazy this week and started sitting up REALLY well today. I can't believe how fast my sweet little babies are growing!! I love their cute smiles and just getting to be with them all day. I sure do adore them. Goldie started waving a lot this week completely unprompted. She seems so tiny to wave!