pic.a.day {6.1 - 6.7}

We are so happy that it's starting to warm up. The city has opened the splash pad, so we have spent some time at the park / splash pad. It's been a lot of fun!

Matthew and I had the opportunity to spend some time together on Thursday. Matthew had to pick up some plants for work in Idaho, so we asked my friend to babysit for us, and the two of us took a little road trip. It was pretty nice, I'm not gonna lie!

Then, my cousin got married on Saturday, so we made a trip up north and spent Friday and Saturday night at Matthew's sister's house. They watched the girls for us while we were at the wedding, then later that day, they watched the girls while Matthew and I visited the temple. It's been SO long since we've had a chance to go to the temple, and it was great to be there! I am so grateful that we have friends and family who are so willing to help Matthew and I.

Then on Sunday, our friends blessed their baby, so we went even farther north! It was a lot of fun to see our friends. I wish we could have visited longer, but it was good to see them for even a short amount of time. We then went to Matthew's mom and dad's and were able to visit with Matthew's grandma and grandpa - which was also way overdue!

It was a great weekend! I feel like summer is such a busy time, and I love it! I am so looking forward to this summer! I am so excited for our upcoming camping and fishing trips and family reunions.

Play dough is their favorite right now. They like to make snowmen best.

 Enjoying suckers in the shade on a hot day.

 My big girls! Lyla loves her play dough, and Alya thinks she's big enough to sit on the stool while she colors.

 Me and my girls. I love them more than words can say.

 Our buddy Gavin giving the girls a ride.

 "Who needs hands!?" If someone will hold it for them, or they can balance it somehow, they do not use their hands. Ever. It's always been this way.

Spending time with friends. (Alya and Lyla were WAY past nap time.)

pic.a.day {5.25 - 5.31}

Between Memorial Day and Matthew's birthday, I'd say we had a pretty good week! It was so good to spend some time as a family. It sure makes me excited for summer. I can't wait to spend more weekends camping, or fishing, or whatever it is we decide to do. It'll just be great to have something to look forward to on the weekends!

 These girls have the cutest smiles! I love capturing them! (Alya) // Dad and Lyla.

The girls get so excited about the idea of touching the fish, but they get so nervous! It's pretty funny. This picture pretty much explains their emotion. They stand as far away as they possibly can, but they want SO BADLY to touch it. And when the fish flops around, it scares the dickens out of them!

 Mountain climbers. Lyla // Alya.

 Dad's fishing buddy. She and Matthew were pretty much joined at the hip all night. // Alya enjoyed throwing - or rather setting - sticks in the water.

Dinner by the camp fire. I really LOVE this. It's so nice to be having fun away from home.

Daddy's girls. // Alya has always liked wearing "big" shoes. She did pretty good in my heels.

Pic.A.Day {5.18 - 5.24}



I have not been great about taking daily pictures lately. But lets be honest...none of us really care that there is a picture documenting all of the - for lack of a better word - boring stuff we do everyday. We just want to see cute pictures of my cute girls! They are getting so big, I just can't even believe it. 

 

Alya is so funny! She is so happy right now and has been very adventurous. For example, at the park one day I caught her studying the giant rock, and before long, she was climbing. She made it all the way to the top without needing any help from me. Lyla saw and was obviously not far behind. My little girls think they are big girls, and they really need to stop!

This picture might very well be one of my favorites of Alya. This is what we call her "weird face." It pretty much sums her up perfectly.

She also started this little walk. The girls walked around the yard like this basically all afternoon. // This is a blanket I made for my little sisters' friends' baby. I LOVE this blanket and I was kind of sad to give it away!

The girls enjoyed their first shower this week. We have tried showers before, but this is the first time they had fun. They loved it so much I couldn't get them out!

 A girl and her dog. Lyla likes Mo so much!

Anniversary (#5)

Sometimes I can't believe that we have already been married 5 years. Other times, it's very easy to believe that we've been married 5 years! :)

Matthew and I celebrated our "golden anniversary" (at least that's what I'm calling it.) Our 5th anniversary was on 5-15-15. Kind of exciting, right!? I guess our golden anniversary will actually be our 15th anniversary. But still, those numbers are kind of fun!

We decided to leave the girls with a sitter and take some time for just the two of us. We went down to Blanding and explored some old Indian ruins. We also ended up looking for some "collectors items" for Matthew, and were lucky enough to find a few!

We had a really good time and saw some pretty cool ruins. We weren't lucky enough to find any petroglyphs... but probably only because we overlooked them. But it was amazing to see how well preserved some of the ruins were.

We were able to explore a few new roads. We took a back road to one of the few places where there is access to the shore at Lake Powell. We camped on the beach and cooked Matthew's famous potatoes and tried to fish. It was a lot of fun!

 A restored kiva in Mule Canyon

House on Fire ruins

 

One of the many cactus flowers I photographed

The hike to these ruins was well worth it

Our two favorite things: Pretty things to take pictures of, and horns

There are actually three ruins in this picture ... the one in the middle is basically a hotel as far as ruins go

This man has made me pretty happy for the last 6+ years

A view from above our camp spot on the beaches of Lake Powell

I had a great time with Matthew celebrating our anniversary. We've had some good times and some bad times, but it has all been amazing. I wouldn't trade anything we've experienced over the last 5 years.

 

Thanks hon, for a great weekend and for so much more.  I love you!

Pic.A.Day {5.11 - 5.17}

A couple of big things happened this week! As I mentioned in a previous post, I started potty training the girls. And as you know, it did not go as I had planned. Which is not surprising! Anyway, I had the girls in diapers for a little while and one day, I was letting them "air out." I thought to myself, I will just put them in a diaper if they have an accident.

By 1:00, Lyla was accident free!!! Every time she had to potty, she told me! I have been so proud of her! Her accident free streak lasted for a while. I dropped her off at my sister's house for the weekend, and I think she had a few accidents over the weekend.

This week has not gone as well for her. I don't know if she's just adjusting to being home again, or if it's just a lot to remember that she is not wearing a diaper. She's had more accidents than not, but I am still really proud of her! She is working hard and I am just planning to continue to let them go at their own pace. I really don't want to push the potty training right now. I really thought they were ready when we jumped in with both feet, but I don't think they were quite as ready as I thought they were. Lyla is definitely showing some progress though! I am so proud of her.

Alya is mostly just happy to be wearing her diaper. She just doesn't care! She'd much rather just play, and not have to worry about when she has to use the potty!

May 15 was mine and Matthew's five year anniversary. We took the girls up to my sister's house and went down to Blanding to hike to some old Indian ruins...and "explore" as Matthew calls it. (By explore, he means that he hopes to find some...collectors items...)

We had a great time and saw lots of pretty things.

 Mon: Lyla loves Hominy. Here she is licking the spoon to get every last drop of Hominy that she possibly could. // Tues: This is how they help me make muffins. I love it.

 Wed: Dad set up the tent in the backyard, and it was a HUGE hit with these two.

 Thurs: Watching (and smelling) the rain. Notice Lyla's not wearing a diaper!!!

 Fri: The House on Fire.

 Sat: Us.  

Sun: We camped next to Lake Powell for our final night away. It was beautiful! We had such a great weekend.

pic.a.day {5.4 - 5.10}

Mon: A day at the park.

 Tues: Art work from toddlers. Chalk and crayons on the dishwasher.

 Wed: A rainy day. Alya very carefully placed rocks in a straight line in the water running down the gutter.

 Thurs: Lyla loves to help! She made me spray the windows about ten times so she could wipe them down.

 Fri: Hanging out in the rain with Dad and Mo.

 Sat: Lyla is really big on coloring lately.

Sun: Skirts are worn on the head around our house.

pic.a.day 4.27 - 5.3 and Potty Training

 

 Mon: Hair is always in their faces. // Tues: The girls got a little present in the mail.

 Wed: Half naked babies sitting on their new potties.

 Thurs: They walked up and down the sidewalk saying "han, han" over and over. I love moments like this - moments when they are actually getting along.

 Fri: Swinging in Aunt Patty's tire swing while Daddy helps Uncle Bob.

 Sat: A half naked baby reading about one of her favorite characters: Winnie the Pooh!

Sun: Lyla helping Johnny use the potty.

So, I'm sure you've gathered by now, that we started potty training the girls this week. It has been interesting. I tried so hard to be ready and to make sure the girls were ready. I read lots of articles and tried to prepare myself. The articles I found were about the "speed training." You know, like "Potty train your toddler in 3 days!" So that's what I tried. We got the potties and helped the girls pick out their new panties and showed them how to sit on their potties. So on Wednesday when they woke up, I stripped them of their pants and diapers and let them run around the house half naked. Every time they started to potty I whisked them to their potty or the toilet. I reminded them, pretty much constantly, that they needed to sit on their toilets if they had to potty. I tried to put them on their potty every 15 minutes. If they used their potty, I praised them and hugged them and gave them high fives, and sometimes they got a Skittle or a chocolate chip. They seemed to kind of catch on, but I hoped things would go better on Thursday. Thursday, they woke up and I again stripped them of their pants and diapers and we tried again. We had a few accidents, but they really seemed to be catching on. By the weekend, we tried putting the girls in their new panties, and letting them run around. I feel like it went pretty well, but the more I tried this method, and the fact that they were still having the same amount of accidents, I just felt like I was doing it ALL WRONG!!! I was getting so frustrated with the fact that I was doing everything that the articles told me I should be doing, it just didn't seem to be working as fast as they said it would. Of course I knew that accidents are going to happen, but I just kept getting more and more frustrated with the process. I know that potty training is difficult, but I don't think I should wake up in the morning dreading the fact that I was going to have to work on potty training the girls for another day. I KNOW that I set my expectation WAY TOO HIGH for what my girls were ready for. So I called my mom and broke down. I had no idea what I was doing! I knew the method I chose to try potty training was not the right method for us, but I just didn't know what else to do. After talking to her, I woke up this morning (Tuesday) with a new resolve. I put them back in diapers, and kept an eye on the clock, and every 30 - 60 minutes, I would try to get the girls to sit on their potties. If they refused, I didn't make them. If they sat down, I gave them lots of praise for at least trying. We went to the park and once we got to the park I took them to the bathroom. They both tried to go and then we went and played. I have tried really hard today to not bother them too much about going potty. As we were leaving the park, Lyla asked to go "potty." Then on our way home from the park, she asked again to go "potty!!" And by the time I laid them down for their nap, Lyla was still dry. Alya's diaper was a little wet - just like the few accidents she was having on our "naked" or "undies days." So I think it's getting better! I am pretty excited about Lyla's progress. I hope it continues. The thing about this new method that makes me the most happy is that I am not frustrated. I don't have any expectations for the girls to be potty trained in an unreasonable amount of time, and that has taken away SO MUCH stress for me. I feel like I am finally being realistic about the process and I am finally being fair to the girls. I know we are still only on the first day of this "method" but I am feeling good about it. So anyway, wish me luck. Wish them luck! :)