Easter

I love my kids! If you haven't figured that out by now. They are soo amazing! We had such a fun Easter with them. This was Jax's first Easter! I can't believe he's almost 9 months old! This last week he's been pulling himself to standing using anything he can. It's insane!

They loved all the little toys we got them! It's funny how very little can do soo much for them. Seeing the excitement on their little faces is the best feeling.

They're so funny lately. The other day Jax was whining and Peyton went over to him and was patting his cheeks as she said, "uh oh, is it baba time, brother?" She's such a good big sister.

Don't let Jax fool you. He's been quite the little instigator these days. It seems like whenever I come upon a mess he's the one that started it and Peyton just joined in.

We spent Easter morning at home and then headed to Oroville. We had lunch at Derek's Aunt and Uncle's with his side of the family. They hid eggs and Petyon got to have her own little egg hunt, which she loved! I'm very grateful that in a sense Derek's family is a lot like mine. They are all very close and love to get together.

Some would call it spoiled, but I think my kids are very loved by Derek's family and mine. There's something about having kids that makes you realize how lucky you are to have so many amazing people in your life that care so much about you.

I'm so proud of our little family! It's still unbelievable to me how fast Derek and I went from 2 to 4!

Pictured above are the kids Uncle Jay and his girlfriend Alina. They are so much fun and the kids love playing with them.

Alina just finished all of her hours at beauty school and now all she has to do before she's certified is pass the state test which she is taking next month. I'm very proud of her and Jay who is taking a welding course in Chico and is almost finished with that. I'm hoping once they're all done they don't decide to venture too far from home. Family get togethers wouldn't be the same.

Jax just wants to be walking! He will be soon and I'll be in trouble. He's already a handful now. How did this time come so quickly?

I have to brag again that I have the sweetest most cutest niece ever! After Peyton's egg hunt we went to my parents house and had dinner with them. Audrea, Kinsley, David, Janeane and Brad were there. Sarah had to work. We spent some time watching the kids roll around and play together. It's funny how entertained we are by the kids. What did we ever do before we had them? In a perfect world my kids would be very well behaved all the time, but get real it doesn't happen that way, especially on days that we are rushing them around everywhere. Yesterday though they were very good! I was actually impressed. Even when we were leaving my parent's Peyton yelled to them, "Thanks for having us!" She sounded soo sweet! I think they got a kick out of it too...

4 Years & Counting!

April 14th was our four year anniversary! I can not believe we've been married that long. I remember our wedding like it was yesterday. My husband is such an awesome guy. I don't know how I got so lucky to end up with someone like him. He's everything I always wanted and more. He's definitely perfect for me! :)

 A lot has happened in the past four years. They were, by far, the best years of my life up till now. We have two beautiful kids to show from it, how much better could it get? We've been there for each other through ups and downs. He puts up with me better than anyone else could.

You learn a lot about someone in four years and everything I've learned makes me love him even more. He knows how to make me feel so special. He doesn't let me get away with things that I shouldn't and he's the first to put me in my place when I need it!

We still love to get away and spend time together. He works hard so we can have the things that we need and want. I couldn't imagine a better father for my kids. He makes me laugh every day and is my best friend. I can't wait to see what the future has in store for us and I'm so excited to go through it with him by my side! I am so in love with him and the best part is that it just keeps getting better by the day! I never knew it could be like this...

Tahoe!!!

Janeane's birthday is today! To celebrate it we went to Tahoe last weekend and stayed at her mother-in-law's condo. We had so much fun! Peyton was so excited to see the snow! Derek and I love getting away for a few days, but we've never gone anywhere with my sister's and their families. We loved it! 

The view was beautiful! It was so pretty there. Somehow snow makes everything pretty.

I love this picture of Damon and Peyton. Peyton was his trial child before Kinsley came along because him and Audge always had her when I was still working. It's fun having family that loves each other and each other's children like they were their own.

Damon has an identical twin so we always tease Audrea that she's going to have twins somewhere along the line. I think this is pretty much what it would look like. The condo was right across the street from the casino so us girls decided to leave the kids with the guys and go have a little fun. By this time Sarah and her boyfriend Jeff were there. They had to come a day later because Sarah had work. It didn't take long until all four of us sisters were sitting at a black jack table. It was the highlight of the whole weekend. We made some friends and had a BLAST. Did we win? No, we lost every cent. The thought even crossed all of our minds to go back and get more money from the men and if the kids hadn't come on this trip we probably would have.

But they were across the street with the guys and we had our fun. It was time to go make sure they were behaving. We went to dinner after that and then Damon and Derek took their turn at the tables. Derek's been telling me that he wanted to learn how to play craps. Damon taught him and he actually did pretty well so by the time they came back that night they were both beaming. You could tell they had a great time. The weekend flew by so fast, but it was great to get to go. I think we all needed a little time away to relax and just have a good time.  

Kids Update...

Since my last few posts have been about my sisters I decided to catch you up on my family. Peyton is getting so smart. She knows so much for a two year old. She can count to twenty in English and Spanish, she can spell her name, she knows her birthday, and so much more! Jax is army crawling and getting pretty fast at it. He can get across the room in no time. If only he could figure out how to keep his belly off the floor. I took the pictures above when we went to Costco the other day. I was so excited because it was the first time they got to ride side by side in a cart. They did so well too until Peyton slapped Jax across the face because he was whining. She never hits so that was a shock to me.

We've been spending some time on the house. Weird, I know, but Derek and I have actually been looking forward to these little projects. We lived in apartments for almost four years and we used to talk about how we missed the little things about living in a house, even things like painting and mowing the lawn. Our projects this month included painting the dinning room, installing a new ceiling fan in the living room, yard work and just today shampooing carpets. I'm proud of how much we've accomplished in the past few weeks.

We were forced to take another trip to the Dr.. Peyton developed a very gross rash on her hands. The doctor said it's just a reaction to the virus she had and should only last a week.

Jax is soo fun, but can also be a little dare devil.

He actually fell head first out of this walker not to long ago. I almost had a heart attack. I was in the kitchen and he was in the living room. He was reaching over the side trying to get one of Peyton's toys that was on the floor. Then he stepped his foot on the side bars and pushed himself out. I saw the whole thing going down and felt like I was running in slow motion towards him, but it happened to fast and before I knew it he was on the floor screaming. It took a few moments to calm him down and check to make sure he was ok, but it definitely freaked me out.

We've been taking advantage of the nice weather we've been having. Audge and Damon got this swing set from a friend of theirs for Peyton and Jax. It was their Christmas present, but they haven't been able to play on it because it's been cold and raining. Peyton loves it. She could swing for hours.

We're staying busy. The kids are getting big and we're just enjoying our little family.