Our adorable girls

We had some professional pictures done of the girls in our play room. I love how they turned out (especially the kiss picture!)

A Sunday post while Kirk is gone

Today I turned the AC down to 77 degrees...3 degrees down from the usual 80 it's set at. Within minutes my girls had goosebumps the size of Rhode Island. Kirsten feel asleep cuddle like this trying to warm up. We better head to Target tomorrow and get some winter clothes before heading up to Utah in a 10 days!

Motherhood sure showed up today. We have 8:00 church. Kirk had to be to the airport at 10:00 (he is in DC, he was only in Vegas 36 hours, sad I know). So we went to sacrament then the girls and I took Kirk to the airport during the second block. I had a friend sit with my primary class during primary then I would be back just in time for class. Perfect plan. But no one planned on Audrey looking like this by the time we got back to the church. Luckily my friend was more than willing to teach my class while I got to endure of the not so popular joys of motherhood!

Someday I hope Kirk puts me on an airplane while he drives away with this situation in the back seat!
Maybe Audrey should finally get a new car seat while we are at Target tomorrow?

Newborn babies are my favorite

My sister Camille just had this beautiful baby girl, named Eliza, yesterday.
Do you immediately love her as much as I do?!
I have snuck a peak at this picture about 43 times since yesterday.
I want to hold her in my arms so badly it makes me cry!
She's so adorable it actually made me baby hungry.
Maybe Audrey will have a younger sibling someday.
Not anytime soon (don't worry mom) but yes, someday.
12 days Eliza and then you just plan to spend the entire day in my arms!

Update? ok!

Kirk really enjoys his job. (He is an instructor for a software company. What does that have to do with facility management? It's facility management software) He loves meeting new people every week. He is so wonderful at explaining technical things to people. He travels about 10% of the time with his job and right now he is in Canada. And he just got his first raise! He is the 11 year old scout leader in our ward and is awesome working with that age group. Over the weekend he put in our patio with the help of a friend. It looks awesome and I think he enjoyed getting dirty and being a manly man.
I have gained status in the world and purchased my very first dyson vacuum! Exciting I know! I have started babysitting a little boy from our ward who is about the same age as Audrey. I thought 2 kids was hard, but having 3 kids to care for makes me appreciate my 2 little angels! I am really enjoying getting to know the girls in my ward. Recipe group, book club, play group, there is always something fun going on. I am enjoying decorating my house and will hopefully finish a room soon and post pictures!
Kirsten had an appointment with a ENT doctor last week. We have a cat scan (sp?) scheduled for next week to see if she has an inner ear. The did a test on her left ear (the normal ear) and it indicated she has some hearing loss in that ear also. So we also have an appointment to how severe the hearing loss is in both ears, hopefully it's not much less that 95%. She is signed up of for a tiny tots sports at the local rec center and I'm excited to see her get involved in sports with other kids. We had a picnic with our friends a few days ago and they brought their cute little dog. Kirsten fell in love and with "Belle" and stayed within a few feet of the dog the entire time. She even cried when Belle didn't come home with us. Don't be too surprised if there is a Howcroft puppy at our house someday. She is still a princess at heart and is always dancing, changing into a different dress 3 or 4 times a day, and yes she still dances during the songs at church (no matter how much we stress reverence). She loves to brush everyone's hair and I am always untangling her hair from the brush.
Audrey is walking 5 to 6 steps at a time. So close to taking off! Whenever she starts walking she throws her arms up in the air and puts on her scrunched nose huge grin. love it! She enjoys reading books and always gets her pointer finger out and points to things on the page with gusto. Audrey is my little climber. Every time I turn around she has one leg up on a chair saying "uh uh" so I will help her up. At the park she will climb all the way up the slide by herself. She is a girl that knows what she wants and once she decides there is no changing her mind. Curse the person she inherited that from (wink). Her favorite toys besides chairs? Does tormenting Kirsten count? She played with a doll the other day. She likes to turn everything into a car and is usually scooting things around the floor making the "bbbrrrrr" sound. She gives the best open mouthed kisses, when you have convinced her you are desperate enough for one!
We are settled and happy here in Vegas and aren't anxious to move anytime soon. We have a trip planned to Utah in 2 weeks for Kirk and my 5th year anniversary. The grandma's are each taking the girls for a night and we are staying here. I'm soooo excited!

Happy First Birthday Audrey!

Audrey turned one today!
We bought her this cute red wagon which she loves! As soon as she saw the wagon (6:30 this morning) she knew what her plans would be for the rest of the day, never leaving the wagon! She climbed in as happy as could be and Kirk pulled her around our bedroom while she giggled in delight. I wish I would have gotten a video because it was so adorable!

This evening we met up with a few friends and had a birthday party at the pool. It was the perfect evening for a party. The kids had fun swimming and the adults had fun chatting. The girls loved the watermelon and Audrey couldn't seem to get enough vegetables dipped in ranch. Kirsten tried her best to share the attention with Audrey and did pretty good. After Audrey blew out her candle Kirsten stuck two matches in her cupcake. Audrey hated her party hat but Kirsten wore it with pride. How can two people be so different and so alike at the same time?! It was such a fun evening! We are so glad Audrey is a part of our family. She adds so much life to our household. She makes me melt like no one else can. I adore my little baby girl and can't wait to become better acquainted with the amazing person she turning out to be.

Audrey or Santa?

Learning to feed yourself can be very adorable!


Speaking of Santa, I'm reminded of the day Chelsey and I went to celebrate her pell grant and my birthday at Olive Garden.
We were enjoying our breadsticks and salad when Kirsten spotted him.
Santa Claus!
In the flesh at Olive Garden!
Naturally she starts yelling "Santa! Santa!! Santa!!!" and pointing at the older gentleman with white hair and a beard.
Our attempts to quiet her proved fruitless and we quickly wrapped up the meal and excused ourselves.

Kirsten=Cookie Monster

Late this evening we remembered we were dangerously low on milk. Kirk volunteered to make a quick run to the grocery store. I asked Kirsten if she wanted to go with him but she was leaning towards staying and watching Cinderella until I mentioned that Kirk would probably buy her cookies. She blows me kisses goodbye and takes off hand in hand with Kirk, visions of cookies dancing in her head.
At the store she finds fruit snacks and when Kirk asks her if she would rather have fruit snacks or cookies, she immediately placed the fruit snacks on the shelf! Kirk then took her to the cookie isle and let her pick any package of cookies she wanted. She grabbed a box and put in the cart but Kirk asked her if she was sure. Second guessing herself she put the cookies back on the shelf surveying her options again. Then finally she spots the cookies of choice on the very top shelf. Kirk hands her the cookies and she lovingly holds then only separating from them enough to let the cashier ring up the price.
Kirk lets her eat cookies all the way home. When she comes into the house she runs up to me showing her prize box of cookies and graciously shares. In fact she made sure Kirk and I kept cookie in hand the rest of the night!
Our little Cookie Monster