Looking back

I was looking at pictures from a year ago when Elizabeth was born and couldn't help post a few.  She was such a sweet, adorable baby!  I forgot how dark  her hair was, it's so blonde now. 

We took tons of pictures when she was born, but here are few of my favorite.

I lovet his picture of Emily; you can see how thrilled she is to have a new little sister!

Taylor, Emily, Isaac and Elizabeth look so little.  It's amazing how much kids change in only one year! 
I feel so blessed and lucky to be their mother.
I love my job!

Lizzie's 1st Birthday!!!

We celebrated Elizabeth's 1st birthday yesterday!
It's hard for me to believe she is 1 alreaday, it seems like only a few months ago she was born.  This past year has been crazy, fun, exhausting and wild.  I guess that's a typical year for a mom of young kids!

We started the day with yummy double chocolate pancakes.  Lizzie devoured them and ate 2 or 3.  She loves to eat, especially sweet foods because she doesn't have them often.

We had a mellow day, doing things around the house and the kids played with their friends. 

 

That evening we dinner of chicken tacos, fruit and salsa & chips with her grandparents.  Again she ate all her food, she loves her meals!  After dinner Lizzie opened her presents.  She got new clothes, and car, and some blocks.

Lizzie got passed around all night to everyone and she seemed to like it.  She isn't too nervous around strangers and unknown people yet.



Her favorite part of opening gifts was playing with the boxed, and wrapping paper. 



After she played with her toys we stripped her clothes off of her and put her on the table for her cake.  She loved everyone singing "Happy Birthday" to her. 

These pictures are out of order, but oh well. 
She has some weird, unkonwn rash on her body.

At first she was nervous about eating her Bday cake, but when she saw it was allowed she went right into it! She pushed her face down into the cake and used both of her hands to eat it. 

She made a huge mess and had a lot of fun!

Lizzie really liked it when all the kids were laughing and yelling at her to eat more cake!  She loves to get attention and laughs from her older siblings.



We love you Elizabeth, and we are so happy you are in our family!



We have had a great week so far. Isaac has been making me laugh so hard lately.  I really need to write down the funny things that he says, because I forget them! 

He has been riding his balance bike alot and is getting really good at riding it.  So on Saturday Danny put him on his little bike with no training wheels!  He rode away all by himself and did great!  We were all shocked that he was doing it, and we just stood there watching.  I need to get out and practice with him, but its's been cold this week. 

Isaac went to McDonalds with his friend last week, and had a fabulous time!  They had ice cream and pancakes, who could want more?



Elizabeth is all smiles when she is in her high chair- as long as she has a stready supply of food on her tray!  She demands food by screaming full force, and she doesn't stop until she gets what she wants.  Lately she wants Ketchup, or ranch like the older kids, and even wants her own utensil. 




Emily met Darla and wanted to hold her all by herself!  She is such a wonderful helper and older sister for Lizzie.  I am so lucky to have her as the 2nd mother.



We went to the Aviary this week on a nice, warm morning.  The kids had fun seeing all the birds.  The flamingoes, eagles and condors were the favorite birds. 

I just love Lizzie's smile, and all of her expressions! 
She is such a joy in our family! 
I am in shock that she is turning 1 this weekend!

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Meeting Baby Darla!

Last Monday Marcus & Natalie had a new baby girl! 
Meet Darla Jane Shields!

She is so adorable and sweet, and smells just like a newborn should. Monica & I went to their house last week to hold her and cuddle her.  She was so cute, and we fell in love with her. 

Congratulations Marcus and Natalie! 

Happy 9th Bday Taylor!



Taylor turned 9 this week!  He had a great weekend for of celebrations! 
We had a family party at G & G Shields with Colton for the "February Bdays", then we had his friends come over for games, presents, and dessert on his actual Bday.  This weekend he is going skiing at Snowbird with Danny. He is thrilled about that! 



He was spoiled with a new soccer ball, basketball, Harry Potter Lego game, and a Wii game. 

Colton and Taylor waiting for their Bday cake.

Lighting the candles, such a thrill for a 9 year old to play with matches. 

The boys eating their dessert.

Taylor doesn't actually like bday cake, so he chose chocolate donuts with chocolate milk for his party.  It was easy and all the kids loved it!  We were comptetely overloaded with sweets and sugar on Valentines day! 

We love you Taylor! 
We are so proud of you, and are happy you are the oldest in our family!

Feb events

Elizabeth is getting so grown up!  She loves meals and snacks in her high chair.  She insists on eating by herself which means it's a huge mess! 
She is really busy now, pulling up on furniture, climbing the stairs, opening drawers and emptying them, eating anything she finds on the floor.  She is hard to keep track of.  She goes straight into the bathroom if the door is left open.  She likes to crawl around the toilet.  We call it "Lizzie's hot tub" because she tries to get her hands in it!  It is so gross!

Even though she is super busy and into everything we all adore her just as much.  I follow her around all day, and if I have to be productive I put her in her high chair or crib to be contained for a minute. 

She makes a "doggy" noise when we see animals in books, and she likes to say "Uh Oh". 
She makes us smile all day long!

A few weekends ago we went to Jeffrey's baptism.  It was a special day, and we had a lot of fun!

These two little boys are so funny, they both hate getting their pictures taken.  But I manged to get a few pics. 

They are such good friends and have so much fun together; playing parcheesi, doing legos, or spying on their sisters! 
I can't believe how old they are getting. 

Isaac has stopped taking naps, but he still gets really tired. 
The other day he was throwing a fit, so I told him to sit on this chair until he could settle down.  It got really quiet and I went in and he was sound asleep sitting up. 

He slept like this for about 45 minutes, and woke up really happy.  I think he still needs a nap, but I never win that battle! 

He is still such a funny kid; super defiant and strong willed but tons of energy and fun!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I know this post is late, but it's been a wild week.  Having a Birthday on Valentine's day really makes for a crazy week. 
The kids were busy making their Vday boxes and cards for their friends and classmates, I was planning Tay's Bday party, and his classroom Valentines day party, and our computer broke.  This makes no time or means to blog.  We made it through the crazy week and got our computer fixed.

Danny really spoiled me this year for Valentine's Day.  We both got new phones, which I LOVE!  Then he brought home these beautiful flowers after work.  They really made me day.

I feel so lucky to be married to Danny.  He is a fantastic husband, father and friend!

I love you honey!

Jr Jazz team party

Taylor just ended his Jr. Jazz basketball season. 

We had a fun group of boys on our team this year, and it was a good season.  The boys worked hard and were really improving their Bball skills. 

After their last game we had a team party and passed out the trophies to the boys.  It was a fun time to celebrate the season of the boys team! 

Ryan was our Assistant Coach, because he wasn't able to play in any games after his illness.  He was so cute to come to all the games and cheer his friends on!

Danny does a fabulous job coaching, all the boys really like him and look up to him!  Way to play Taylor!