Daily Princess Bike Rides

I am so lucky to be a mom to these two cuties! This is our daily activity these days. Hallie is loving her new bike and wants to ride it to the mailbox each day. Peyton has to take care of her babies and is quite persistent in letting me know she does NOT need any help, she will go at her own pace, and if I touch her she will definitely scream. It is quite hot these days and we are all sweating by the time we get home. But it's worth it to watch the joy they have together. I love my girls. 

such a serious face. "mom, stop taking my picture."

Happy 3rd and the fun festivities

We celebrated Hallie's bday a day early since all the 4th festivities were on the 3rd this year. It was a busy weekend and pretty crazy, so I didn't take too many pics. But we had a good time. We went to the little parade by our house. It reminds me of the Coralville parade. Pretty much  just cars and people throwing more candy out than you get on Halloween. Hallie loved it. Peyton was just content sitting on Aaron's lap and letting Hallie collect the candy for the both of them.

collecting all the goods

After the parade, we had a little bbq at our house with a few friends. It was lots of fun. Lots of kids running around outside swimming and playing. And eating lots of yummy food.

The gals. Not sure who's idea this always is :). jk

My cutie little stinkers

We had a good day. It was nice to sit on my butt after a long weekend though :).

Happy Birthday Hallie

(this is the best smile I could get :). Typical look when I pull out the camera.)

My sweet little Hallie turned 4 on July 3rd. I am so lucky to have this little angel. Here's some things I love about her:

~always so thoughtful. She is always doing kind things for me, Aaron or Peyton and thinks about others before herself. If she ever gets a treat somewhere, she saves some for Peyton or us. She loves to think about what other people might like or enjoy. Whenever she earns a treat or present, she wants to pick one out for Peyton first because "Peyton might feel sad".

~makes me laugh all the time

~ such a strong little spirit. She has so much faith. Anytime something is wrong or there's a problem, I'll catch her on her knees saying a prayer and then she's fine. She always says, "no problem Mom. I'll just say a prayer and then Heavenly Father will help me."

~has such a loving motherly side. Sometimes I feel like she's the parent and I'm the kid :). Whenever I pick her up from nursery at church she'll say, "how was your day? what did you learn about? Did your lesson you teach ed go good?" Or when she wakes up, "How was your good night sleep?" Always so sweet to Peyton and talks to her in a sweet little motherly voice all the time too.

~She's always thinking one step ahead. And LOVES to plan. Every morning she says, "what's the plan?"

~LOVES to dance! Peyton and her put on their dancing attire, turn on their princess music and dance everyday. It's so cute to watch.

~The best big sister ever! From the day Peyton was born she was just so excited to have her and is always so cute and sweet to her. She puts up with alot from Peyton's sassy personality and rarely fusses about it.

I thought it'd be fun to see what she'd say to a few questions. Here's her responses:

Favorite Food: peanut butter sandwiches, fruit snacks, chips and strawberries

Favorite Color: purple, pink and golden

Favorite Toy: stuffed aminals, especially Bambi and Lady
What makes you smile: When Peyton laughs and does funny things
What are you good at? coloring, being a froggy, dancing
What do you want to be when you grow up? a mommy
Who do you want to marry? you. I don't like boys!
How many kids do you want to have? 20
Favorite Song: I am a Child of God
Favorite Movie: Sleeping  Beauty and Cinderella

Favorite Book: I Spy
Favorite Show: Dora
Favorite Person: Mommy and Daddy. Oh and Peyton. And Grandma and Grandpa. AND Chelsey.
Favorite Thing to Do: Go to the park and play, color, read books, play with my toys, play with Peyton, go to the beach, and doing silly things.
Favorite Candy: bubble gum
Favorite Flower: sunflowers and daisies
Favorite Animal: deers. Actually giraffes and elephants.

How big are you? 14
How tall are you? 14

She had such a FUN day! Hallie LOVES birthdays. And when I say love, that is an understatement. . She had been planning her party forever. I loved watching her get so excited. If I ever told her what we could do or had some suggestions she would say, "No, mom...this is what we're going to do..". So I wish I could take credit for the party, but Hallie wouldn't let me have a say in anything. She even crawled out of her bed the night before to check on things and give me her two sense. I love her.

She was so ecstatic that Chelsey and her sis-in-law Ashley were going to come to her party and celebrate with her too. They were so sweet to drive here and helped SOOOO much! Seriously! I couldn't have done it all without them. It was a hard week for me and they just stepped right in. Chelsey made the cutest sign and spoiled her rotten. Thanks you guys! Love you!

We started the day off with a bday breakfast request of purple french toast

Did some cake decorating

And had a super fun Princess Party...

We had a great time. Hallie wrote her own list of everything she wanted to do at the party. It included, makeup, hairdo's, nails, pin the crown on the frog (which my sister drew free hand. she's amazing!), treasure hunt, prince prince frog, freeze dancing and much more. The girls had a blast and Hallie was in heaven. My favorite part was hearing all the little girls dress up shoes clank on the tile as they ran around the house looking for their hidden treasure left from the prince.

little sleeping beauty

dancing

all the beautiful princesses

After the party was done, we had one last surprise. Hallie had been talking about wanting a "big girl pedal bike with a ring bell and basket" FOREVER! We finally found "the one" and had it waiting in the garage for her when Aaron got home from work. She was so excited.

"a ring bell and a basket!"

Hallie's next move was to whisper in my ear "Don't tell Peyton, but I'm going to give her my little bike for her birthday."

loving the ring bell. She scares me with that thing. She's more concerned about ringing that enough times than watching where she's going :).

Saying goodbye and THANKS A BUNCH to Ashley and Chelsey. They were seriously so great and it was a blast to have them come for a few days.

Peyton loves Ashley. She was so great to play with her nonstop and hold her all the time. It was fun to get to know her more. She's so sweet. Hallie and Peyton LOVE their Aunt Chelsey. They mention her name at least once a day.

It was a fun day and I'm so happy I have my little Hallie.

Our Paradise Vacation

We had such a fun getaway to Cancun for our 7th anniversary/late med school graduation. My sister Chels was SO unbelievably kind in offering to watch the girls so Aaron and I could go on a trip during his week break. It was heaven. 2 days after we got back from AZ, we ventured off again. We stayed at an all-inclusive resort that we really enjoyed. Just looking at these pics makes me want to go back!

We did lots of relaxing! LOVED IT! What we enjoyed: (I didn't take many pics.)

Sleeping in everyday~relaxing at the beach and pool~kayaking in the ocean~boogy boarding~getting down poured on while playing tennis~shopping tour~all the yummy restaurants~great night shows/entertainment~nice room~hanging out in hammocks by the beach at night~being able to have a conversation without 20 interruptions and kids begging at my feet~and lots lots more!

Chelsey, Jared and his family were so sweet to my girls. And so nice to let them come stay there. They had a blast. For like a week after, they kept calling me Chelsey and are still talking about their stay nonstop. Everytime they see a dog they talk about how they miss Max and Maggie. I missed them lots but knew they were in good hands. Chels entertained them 24/7 so they were a little bored when they got back and I wouldn't play with them all day long. I was so excited to see my girls and got my heart ripped out when Peyton wanted nothing to do with me. It's like she was mad at me that I left her. I went to grab her and hug her and she cried, "No! I want Chelsey. Chelsey, Chelsey!" and she wouldn't even look at me. We had to drive home from Houston and about half the car ride home she wouldn't even look at me. I finally got her laughing, but I was so sad. Good thing Hallie gave me lots of loves :). I guess she made up for it because for the next week she wouldn't let me put her down. Now it's back to reality. So fun!

Arizona Trip

I LOVE that my sister Chelsey is living in Houston for the summer! In June she came to my house and road tripped it with me and the girls to Arizona where we met up with the rest of my family. It was a blast. The girls did really well on the drive. I thought we were in trouble when only 45 minutes into the drive Hallie asked if we were there yet. But she survived and we had fun. It was so great to spend time with the family. We missed Jordan, Jared and Aaron though. They all had to work. We did lots of swimming, shopping and just hanging out. My kind of vacation.

Hallie loved having her cousins to play with. Avery, Macy and Hallie always hit it off from the second they see each other. And they all play together so well. I love it.

I don't know...do you think Hallie might sink? She was hillarious with all her getup. I convinced her a few times to only choose one, but this is what she looked like the majority of the time. Needless to say, we start swim lessons on Wednesday :).

Watching her try to get up and down into the water was quite entertaining for me as well as everyone around. She was just a little too wide to fit through, but she was determined to fit. (coming up and going down)

Peyton didn't do much swimming. Instead this is what she enjoyed...DUSTIN!!! He is so awesome. He never lets me get a picture of him so I have to sneak some. This explains how his trip went. Peyton led him around everywhere and he pretty much did whatever she wanted. Kids love him. Peyton would even yell in her sleep at night "Dust! I want Dust!" . She prefered him over me anyday and we are still talking about him everyday. She loves him and followed him around everywhere. Thanks for being such a great sport Dust. Love you!

My aunt Jeena and uncle Tim live in Phoenix and came to hang out with us. We played lots of cards. And I REALLY struggled. REALLY! Must have been my chair Dad :).

My Dad had just gotten back from Chicago and was so cute to bring Peyton an early bday present. I love that he picked it all out and was so excited to give it to her. He's so cute. Peyton LOVES her Bitty Baby and won't have to steal Hallie's all the time now.

The following picture makes me smile because the happy moments between these two were very few and far between. Kate was so sweet and Peyton...well...not so much. Anytime Kate got near Peyton, Peyton would rise up on her tip toes, clench those fists, eyes wide and yell, "PAAAATTTEEE!!!" It got so bad she would do this even if she saw Kate in the same room. We have a friend here who's little girls name is Pate, so I'm guessing that's why she called her that. But at home she always calls her Kate. By the end of the trip we were all calling her Pate. ha ha. I felt so bad that Peyton was so mean. Kate is so sweet and just stood there with a smile on her face like "what is going on?".

Well one time, Peyton wasn't screaming "Pate" and instead we found this. Kate was handing Peyton one swim diaper after another and Peyton was putting them all on. It was cute and they were laughing and having fun.

Until she tried to stand up and walk and realized she couldn't move.

We got to see my good friend Chelise and her little girl Drew while we were there too! They did medical school with us in Iowa and are now in Phoenix doing an ortho residency too. It was so fun to see them. (thanks for the pic Chelise)

And a few from the ghetto camera...

Loving the ice cream...until she realized how messy she was.

Thanks Mom and Dad for a great time!