Auntie Lora & Uncle Jake Visit

Lora and Jake visited this last week. It was so awesome. We missed them so much and it was so good to have some fun with them. We missed Oscar and Livy, but it was great to play with them and not have to worry about too many munchkins. They got here in the early afternoon, so we just hung out until Jason got home.
Thursday night we went to a Basque restaurant that was amazing! It is called Epi's. It is a little pricey (for our meager budget...but not at all too expensive for the amazingness), but it was out of this world good. From the delicious bread, to the creamy shrimp soup and the satiny croquetas....it was definitely the best restaurant for Spanish/Basque food I have had. The service was amazing to. The hostess was the owner (I believe) and she was so kind. I think everyone in our party had a back rub from her! Although we wanted to try some of their delicious desserts we had to decline because Tori was so done with sitting (we were there for 2 hours)! So we went through the TCBY drive through instead.
That night the games began. Lora and Jake introduced to extreme board games back in the day they were living in Chicago with Catan so of course we filled our time with playing games. Jake gave Jason a game called Race for the Galaxy for Christmas like 2 or 3 years ago and we have never had the stamina to learn it. Jake was determined this time to learn it and then teach it to us. Lora and I were too tired to play Thursday night so the boys learned together and the boys finally learned the rules.
Jason got to stay home on Friday and play with us! It was awesome. Of course the boys had to Wii it up in the morning. Tori was thoroughly entertained. She loves to watch people play Wii Sports Resort (especially the Frisbee dogs and 100 pin bowling). She claps really hard for those little dogs catching the Frisbee and if they jump catch...her excitement escalates!

Here the boys are demonstrating their Wii skills. Although paired skating is not an official Wii Sports Resort game, they had to try it out.

Here they are in the action!

Tori is shown here in amazement watching them play the Wii.

Lora and I got ready in the morning to take the kids to the mall. This is a semi-decent picture of us, but of course Lora looks cuter. I am just too lazy to put on makeup!

Ok...taking pictures with the kids was hilarious. Brooke of course doesn't really smile on cue and Tori didn't want to sit in one place, so here are a few of the takes. This is the cutest one that we got with Lora and Brooke. Lora of course looks amazing and at least Brook isn't crying!

This picture sums it up. Lora is squeezing Tori so that she won't move, Brooke is on the verge of crying and well, Lora is showing the strain it takes to keep 2 kids in a picture! So funny!

Lora took a million pictures of Brooke. i think she was trying to capture a smile.

Lora got a good one of me! Amazing!

Ok...so Cami scared Lora and Jake (she is quite the evil cat!) and Lora called her Lucifer. Poor Cami is so beautiful she is good at making people think she is nice, but she isn't.
Well, after we all got ready Lora and I went to the mall with the munchkins and walked around. I love going shopping with my sister and I wish that she was here so that we could entertain each other while are husbands slave away at work for us. But alas it is not so. Lora bought an amazing purse and of course she had to spoil Tori and bought her some toys at the Disney Store. Tori now is the proud owner of Minnie and Mickey, and a plastic Pooh Bear.
We decided to ditch the mall and go for a quick lunch at McDonald's (which of course Tori loved!) so that we could make sure the munchkins got their naps. The boys went out to Flatbread Community Oven which by the way is DOC certified (meaning that it has authentic Italian style pizza) and Jake declared it as the best pizza that he has had outside of Italy! Needless to say we went there again on Saturday before we dropped them off at the airport. I think Lora agrees with the fact that it is very delicious! I am excited that Jake likes 2 restraunts in Meridian; I think that he'll want to come back!
Friday night we stayed in and played Stone Age lovingly nicknamed as the "Whoopie Hut" game because one of the things you can do on a turn is to make more hunters (if you know what I mean).
Saturday we just chilled in the morning and like I said visited Flatbread Pizza. I was sad to see them go, but I am excited because in approximately 58 days they will be back again, but with the kids!!!! The countdown begins!! I am so glad you guys came! I really missed you and I can't wait to see you again!

Ahhh...here are some tender pictures of Uncle Jake and Brooke. Tori was a little scared of Uncle Jake, but she sure performed her heart out to keep them entertained. Her favorite was singing the Itsy Bitsy Spider for them.


Oh oh! Here she is sucking on her thumb. She almost has it down pat, but still doesn't have enough control over her hand and arm motion.

Here is a big smile!

Her cute outfit on Sunday. A picture with flash...so she is totally washed out, but look how blue her eyes are!

Tori bug in her new dress that Lora brought from CA. I love hand me downs!

And Brooke in her Valentine's Day outfit. Check out the built in shoes...

and the "Be Mine" butt!

Remembering Spencer

Last week...well, not much happened. We just hung out at home and had a lot of fun playing. I kept track of Brooke's feeding and sleeping schedule. She is getting better at sleeping at night, although I wish that we were asleep before 11. It will just keep getting better. I am feeling great and I catch myself thinking I should get Jason to pick this up or I wish that I could clean the bathroom. And then I think...oh wait, I can do it myself. I can! It was great to clean the bathroom and have the stamina to do it after the surgery and not have a huge belly to block our shower door! It is awesome. It is seriously amazing what your body can heal from!
This weekend we went birthday shopping for Livy and Jake. Lora and Jake are coming to town in just a day and a half and I cannot tell you how excited I am! I miss my sister beyond words. I try not to think about it too much or I will cry. I talk to her practically everyday and sometimes more. I just wish that we could live right next door to each other so that we could help each other out. I about cried a river when I read her last blog about Livy and Oscar. I haven't seen them since August. They aren't coming to visit this time, but Lora called with good news on Wednesday and said that her family is coming for Oscar's spring break (that is a whole week!). We are so excited. Jason and Oscar have a special relationship and Jason was ecstatic, and we can't wait!
Sunday marked the 3rd birthday of our little Spencer's birth and death. When I think back it seems like it was so long ago, but also it feels just like yesterday when the doctor told me that he was gone.I feel numb sometimes when I think of him and there are some days that I don't think of him, but he is always in our family prayers because he is definitely a part of our eternal family so I at least remember him at the end of the day. I don't know what life would have been with him, so how can I really miss him? I guess I miss the idea of him. I cannot believe that I could have three kids under the age of 3! I think Tori really would have liked having an older brother in the flesh. I am glad I have the chance to cry. I really do miss my little boy and I really hope that Heavenly Father blesses us with another son someday. We celebrated by having donuts... although they weren't the best donuts in the world it was the thought that counts. We want to celebrate his birthday each year, and I am sure the girls won't mind having an excuse to have a special treat each year on his birthday. We hope to go to Provo and visit his grave site on Memorial Day.
My little Livy Lou filled this gap for me after Spencer's death. She was the little body I got to hold and cuddle and grieve with. She made me feel happy. This is the first year I don't get to go to her birthday party. I am really sad about this, but finances aren't spectacular right now. But I can just see her face when she opens her presents! I can't wait to see them in April!
Her are some pictures of the girls!
The many faces of Brookie:

the model stare...

the gangsta growl...

the "how are you doin'?"...

and the "cutie".

We had them snuggle in Tori's bed one night. I wish the pictures turned out better. The flash was horrible and washed them all out. Tori looks so tired!

Tori chilling on our "peninsula". That is what we call the big counter in our kitchen. It is sort of like an island, but is connected in on one wall (hence the name: peninsula).

Serious Silliness

I am sitting at the computer desk at the best time of the day (of course I am multi-tasking and eating a humongous salad with Newman's Own Light Balsamic Vinegrette all over it) when both girls are down for a nap and I have about an hour of time (let's not call it free time because I am usually doing something like laundry or dishes and sneaking in a shower and lunch) to do things!
So here are a few pictures of the girlies having fun. We like to have fun in this house! Tori's favorite ways to have fun are reading, playing with her toys (right now her favorite is the little people farm) and DANCING! She is an amazing dancer. She sure can move her groove thing. Yesterday was Stake Conference and I giggled when one of the speakers said that we need to watch what music we listen to! Ha! Our music list consists of the Wiggles, Ralph's World and Sesame Street! If we were going to heaven based on the music we listen to, I think we are there! She also loves to climb on anything and everything!
Here are some fun pictures from this last week!

Tori has recently learned to take off all of her clothes. She hasn't tried the diaper yet, and hopefully never will. Here is some of her dinner shenanigans. Look at the mess on her tray! The thrills of eating by herself.

I caught her on camera smiling! I had to use the mega flash so that she wouldn't have blur marks from moving, but she sure is cute when she smiles. She is climbing on the chairs and trying to get into the bassinet.

Check out her hair...it is getting so long. Talk to the hand!

I love this picture even though it is a little weird angle.

This is a picture of her dancing!

Ahhh...Brookie! She is in the warmest pair of pajamas. She is officially in size 0-3 months and at the last Doctor's visit she weighed an even 10 pounds and was 21 inches long! (I can't believe that some babies are actually born that big!)

She is totally grinning at Tori and her lambies. Tori loves to play with her in her bassinet.

Loves!

Here is the cutie in her Sunday outfit that Jason picked out! Adorable!

Here she is grinning! She is so fun when she is awake!
Now off for a shower...hopefully they won't wake up! And maybe I will fit in some laundry! Wish me luck!!
UPDATE: I got in a shower and started the laundry! And both of the kids have been sleeping for 2 1/2 hours! Yipee!

Brooke's Blessing

Brooke's blessing was on Sunday. Jason's parents came Thursday night for the festivities. They were in California, but drove up all the way to Idaho (leaving Wednesday morning) so that they could take care of the girls on Thursday night and Jason and I could go on a date. We went to Costa Vida (a Cafe Rio knock off that was ok, but can anything compare?!) and then we saw Avatar (which was surprisingly a good movie and I am sure would be awesome in 3D except that I get really sick in 3D movies). Thanks Dennis and Gwen.
Both of my parents were supposed to come for the blessing, but my Mom had a feeling not to come because she was feeling a little under the weather. Friday morning she went to the doctor and she had an inner ear infection! Good thing she went to the doctor and didn't get on the plane or she would have been in so much pain. I am glad that my mom listened to the Spirit. So my Dad came by himself and Tori was really excited to see him.
Saturday afternoon Jason's parents gave him his birthday present. They made him 2 photo albums of his childhood and family history. They are amazing! They worked really hard on them. He also got stuff for his Wii (a new nun chuck and Wii motion sleeve). It was really fun to watch Dennis and my dad play the Wii with Jason! We also went to the Cheesecake Factory which Jason has now decided is one of his favorite restaurants because he likes more than one thing on the menu. Mmmmm.... you just gotta love the fact that there are like 80 different cheesecakes and I have such a hard time deciding shich one to get (I ended up with oreo!).
Sunday was great. Brooke's blessing was beautiful and she looked pretty in her dress (thanks Auntie Joy!). All of the accessories were from my mom. Boy my children are spoiled! We said bye to my dad that afternoon (my Dad came to the car and said goodbye to Tori who then wailed because he was leaving her. Although it was sad to see him go, I am glad that Tori loves him so much she wanted him to stay!).
We spent the rest of Sunday evening in the car for a whirlwind trip to Utah. One of Jason's cousins, Ryan Flinders (age 24) died suddenly and we went to the funeral so that Jason could be one of the pall bearers. It was nice to see all of the family but a sad reason to be gathered all together. Ryan was so young, but he was in a lot of pain because of some physical ailments that he had been dealing with his whole life. he will be missed, but we know that he can now serve a mission and not feel anymore pain.
Well, I hope you enjoy this long post and all of the pictures! (I cannot believe that baby is still asleep! It is 9:15 AM!) And Tori is being an angel playing by herself!

Dad enjoying his little girls. He is so good at calming Brookie and Tori loves him!

Ahhh!

I think the reason that Tori loves my Dad so much is because he will get down on the floor and play with her and read her every book that she shoves at him.

Looking at the camera (sorry about the bad flash...we are going to have to get that fixed or something...it washes out everything because it is too powerful!)

Ahhh! Brookie!

A little yawn. I love this dress because it has such beautiful little details!

More of the little girl.

Gotta love this picture!

Tori doesn't really like taking pictures with Brooke.

Love this one too!

Tori with my dad.

Ahhh! Brookie with Grandma and Grandpa

3 generations with Grandpa Lee

I put both of these on because Tori looks adorable in this picture and Brooke looks cute in the other one!

Brookie with Grandpa Lee

Tori with Grandma and Grandpa.

Tori was asleep by the time Jason got back, so it is just us with Brookie.
Brookie with me!

Brookie with her daddy...ahh! I love that she is all scrunched up!

One more with daddy looking at the camera. Brooke was about done with pictures then!

Here are some random ones of the girls to end with. I had to put this one of Tori because it shows off her Elmo socks. She has about 5 pairs of character socks (some of which so not fit as well as they used to) and if she could choose, she would wear them with every outfit. I loved brooke in this outfit. It made her eyes super blue.

The Bumbo, Sunday and Sleep

Well...the Brooke is getting into a better sleep schedule. I am still way tired at the end of the day. (She still doesn't go to sleep until like 12:30-1:30 AM, but sleeps until 6 or even 7 sometimes. I am looking for this amazing sleep book that I checked out from the Orem library when Tori was born, but I don't remember what it is called and I checked out so many that I am mixing books up. So that is one problem I need to solve this week. (Although Brooke is considered to sleep through the night because she sleeps 5 hours in a row.) I just wished she went to sleep a little earlier!
We just introduced her to the Bumbo and she loves it! Here are some pictures of the Bumbo sitting Brooke and having fun on Sunday.

The happy girl in the Bumbo.

Jason took this one of her sitting on the couch. The next picture is super cute but it was done with our flash which always makes our pictures flushed out, but she is so happy!

Cami hanging out in the car seat.

These next pictures were taken about 1 AM but I love them because you can see her cute little feet! She is so wide awake!

Ahhh...looking at the camera.

Her little Sunday outfit. Her tights are 2 sizes too big, but they are the heaviest ones that we have and I don't want her to freeze. We changed church times to 11 AM and it wasn't too bad. Tori actually lasted the whole time in Nursery even though it was during her nap!

ahhh! what a smile!

Check out Tori's hair! it is getting so long!

Ahh a kiss from Cami. Tori loves her kitty!

Last but not least a content Brooke in the Bumbo. what a fabulous invention!

Rachel, 28th Birthday and New Years

Well...for the last couple of days Rachel (one of my besties) was here to play with our family. It was so nice to have someone to talk to and play games with. She is amazing and I wish that we still lived super close so that we could hang out every once in a while. Although we didn't do anything too exciting (weather and a new baby to damper the cool things that you can do in bumpin' Meridian) it was fun just to hang out. We did go to the mall where I convinced her to buy clothes that were on super sale (not much convincing was really needed)...Brooke slept the whole time we were there. She has been sleeping a lot lately and drinking a ton too! I think she is going through a growth spurt. the trip ended with quite an explosion out of Tori's lower extremities which involved a diaper over her stretch pants and a plastic bag under her tooshie in the car. It was too extreme to change before we got home. YIKES! And of course Rachie was the one who discovered the treasure (sorry Rach!).
Our New Years Eve was spent celebrating Jason's 28th birthday. He requested an oreo pie crust filled to the brim with chocolate peanut butter Tillamook ice cream. So his wish was granted and boy it was really tasty! I must say that Rachie probably thought we were the most dead beet married couple, because after we watched the 30 Rock marathon (10 o'clock) we were wasted. I slept off in on with a feeding here and there until midnight rolled around. Rachie has already given up on us and went to bed herself. I did spend my first hours of the New Year with Brooke who didn't go to sleep until 1:30. But she slept until 5 and then went back to sleep and is still sleeping at this moment.
We miss you already Rachie! Come back soon and maybe we will be more exciting!

Tori decided that the bassinet is her new play area. She is way too big to be sleeping in there!

The "big sister" sporting all of her "pretties"

ahhh!!! She looks a little like Mr. T!

The happy girl in the cutes outfit...Jason picked this one out!

She is talking here! She coos a ton!

Ahhh...with the little jacket on.

Look A Like

Tori and Brooke

Before, During and After Christmas!

I know what you all are here for, the pictures! Well, we'll get to them in a second. We had a wonderful Christmas season. Before we celebrated Christmas, we celebrated our 5th anniversary! I cannot believe it! Like always we used Jason's birthday meal at Tucano's and we went to Target to buy each other presents and also do a little Christmas shopping. Jason got me a frame set with 10 matching picture frames so that I can make a collage and a rotary cheese grater for all of the different Parmesans that I have. I got him a Wii sensor sleeve and two shirts. We also got to go to Borders (which we loved to do a lot when we were living in Utah), but we have been avoiding (because we don't have money to spend on books) and treated ourselves to new books. :) I love books!
We finished our Christmas shopping a few days after the weekend and it was nice that we could take the kids along and they didn't even know the difference. Tori helped us pick out what she wanted. Tori and Brooke both got gift certificates to Target from their Aunt Michelle and Grandma Frann. So we spent those too.
Christmas eve we just hung out as a family. First, we went to IHOP for breakfast because I had been salivating over their holiday pancakes any time I saw their commercials. Then, we went to Walmart to get our Christmas dinner (a roast!) and then hung out! We also delivered gifts to all of our neighbors (we made hot chocolate gift baskets). We froze our tookissis off!
Christmas was fabulous. We woke up (the baby slept until 7am!) and after everyone was fed, we opened presents. We had quite the haul. Tori got some toys: an Aurora doll, stuffed Dumbo baby, stuffed Daisy duck, a new baby with a carrier, a Sesame Street medical kit, a Sesame Street school bus, an Elmo blanket, and an animated dinosaur. she was in heaven with all the new toys, so thank you aunties, uncles, grandmas, and friends for the great gifts!
It has been nice to have Jason home and to relax and have fun with our little family. Jason got two new Wii games and 2 new board games so we have been having some fun playing with those. We sure missed our family (tears were shed and christmas music was extra depressing), but here are some pictures for you to enjoy until we see you again!

Having a little fun with my sunglasses.

This was taken yesterday. I think that she is about 71/2 or 8 pounds now. We went to Carter's to buy new pajamas for Tori who all of the sudden is growing like a weed and is almost stretching out of her 18 month pajamas, so we got Brooke all dressed for the occasion.

Ahh...sleeping.

Brooke's little hands

Ahh...just seconds before Brooke spit up on her pjs, Tori was holding her hand. Tori just learned to say Brooke the other day. She calls her "Bru, bru". It is quite cute!

A close up.

Her new toys. She loves them. The Target gift certificates bought her the little Sesame Street bus. She loves the baby and notice that she has a necklace on with the tag still on and the matching bracelet dangling from her throat. She also has Ernie clutched in her little right hand for safe keeping!

She loves Burt too. We wish that we would have bought her a stuffed one, but instead she will just have to carry around the Burt thermometer from her medical kit! Brooke sleeping on Tori's new Elmo blanket made by Grandma Frann.

All tuckered out after we delivered our Christmas goodies.

Like Tori, Brooke loves the lambs in the bassinet.

They make her smile and coo!

Jason with the little munchkin. A super cute shot of Tori in her Christmas Eve sweater.

A cute one with Daddy!

And last but not least...pajamas and bow! :)