Blogging Hiatus

So its been a while since I've blogged. We've been busy but not with anything really that exciting. Here's a quick recap of what we've been up to the last 2 months:

Since I drove out to Denver with my parents after they came to Utah for a trip, I was going to fly home but Luke decided to bring Brooklyn and come get me. We hung out in Denver for a weekend and took the girls to do a few fun things- Water World (I forgot my camera) and a butterfly pavilion.

The ever brave Brooklyn always taking up the chance to hold a tarantula.

Brooklyn learned her lesson about being fearless to hold any and every animal after picking up a turtle and it biting her stomach!

Brooklyn started 3rd grade this year and was very excited to meet her new teacher and make some new friends! I remember a lot from 3rd grade including a boyfriend named Alvin :)

We hit up the State Fair in Salt Lake the last weekend it was here. The girls had a lot of fun and I enjoyed some funnel cake.

The yearly visit to Cornbelly's was good times once again. Brooklyn was a champ on the bull and even attempted riding one-handed. 

We moved the first of September. We decided what we were currently paying was more than too much and not worth throwing away in rent any longer so we found a home about 15 minutes south of where we were before. It is brand new, really nice and plenty big inside. We are really blessed to have found such a great home that we really like and is still close to Brooklyn as well as saving us a few extra pennies :)

As of September Lola is Binky free!! We were on the freeway one day in heavy traffic and Lola had a dirty diaper so I rolled the windows down for half a minute to air the car out a little and before I knew it she had thrown her binky and silky out the window. There was no way I could stop the car, get out and look for them so I just told her they were gone for good (except the silky because we have plenty of spares). That night at bedtime she kept asking for her binky and cried when we laid her down without it but I just reminded her that she threw it out the window and we have no more. She cried for 20 minutes then fell asleep. The next night was the same story but I once again reminded her why she didn't have a binky anymore and she only cried for 10 minutes. Within about 4 days she had completely forgotten and stopped asking for or bringing up the binky. It was SO much easier than I had anticipated! I should have done it 6 months ago :)

Lola recently had her 2 year well-check and weighs 22 lbs (3%) and is 34.3 inches tall (34%). Her Dr said she looks great, is progressing nicely in the weight dept., and is a happy and thriving little toddler! Lola also had her first dentists visit and we found that she has a great set of teeth that the Dr was thoroughly impressed with. Way to go Lola! Last week had her 6 month speech evaluation and the therapists said she has improved very well these last few months and they are fairly certain that either before or by the time she turns 3 she will no longer need the extra help/push with her speech! Lots of great news for Lola this last month :)

And for those few of you left who don't already know, we're expecting again! It came as quite the surprise because I was currently on birth control at the time (the same one that I used for 3 1/2 years before Lola- without any surprises). And while it wasn't planned and took me a little while to accept, we are very excited about this new blessing we have been given and can't wait to add another sweet little person to our family! Baby Boy Benik is due February 12, 2012

Mothers Love To Brag

Especially when it comes to how cute their kids are. And yes, mine are the cutest ;)  

(Brooklyn's 8 and Lola's 2 year photos taken in June)

Hanging Out

Lola and I recently came to Denver to hang out and spend some time with Grammy and Bonka. We've enjoyed relaxing, going to the pool nearly everyday, playing with cousin Landon, meeting Grammy for lunches (with uncle Taylor too), going to car shows with Bonka on the weekend, visiting the Denver children's museum, playing at the water park, going to a Stevie Nicks! concert and many other fun activities! We sure miss Daddy and Brooklyn though and are excited to get home and see them soon. But for now, we're enjoying our time with family and the last few days (2 weeks really) of summer. Fall will be here before we know it! Here are a few pics of what we've been up to-- nothing too exciting just so you know:

Trying on Uncle Taylor's shoes

 Lola loves spending time with her closest-in-age cousin, Landon. They're only 8 months apart and now that they're a little older are really starting to enjoy playing together... for the most part. Lola has to do or have everything that Landon does and gets very jealous when the attention is on him and not her. But he has been very good to put up with her beastliness when he comes over :)

 Grocery shopping at the Children's Museum

 Playing at the water park

 Showing off her new 'trick' that her cousin Carter taught her a few weeks ago :)

JOURNEY Concert

We saw Journey, Foreigner and Night Ranger in concert this week. It was pretty awesome to say the least and we had such a great time! It was fun singing along to every song (except I didn't know Journey's new songs) and of course sneaking up to the front to get as close to them as possible! I'm so glad I can say that I have seen Journey live in concert. What an amazing experience! They truly are (classic rock) legends (minus Arnel- sorry but you're not Steve Perry). Thanks for taking me Babe- I loved it! 

 

Nothing Much

 We've had a pretty low key summer thus far. Lots of swimming, playing outside, and hanging at the park. Last month, Brooklyn had her first sleepover here at our house, with her friend, Kira. The girls were so excited to try and stay up until midnight but they only made it to 1030 and 11 :) A few weeks ago my brother, Taylor, came to stay for a few days. We went to Park City and rode the Alpine Slide and had a backyard camp out with our neighbors one night. Last weekend we went up to our family cabin in Bear Lake but in our hurry to get on the road I forgot my camera. So there are no pics of the girls at the lake or riding four wheelers this time. Hopefully next month will hold some better/more exciting activities for us (and pics for you)...

 

  

Lola still loves to be naked when playing outside. I figure as long as were in the backyard, who cares?! And she's a cute little naked monkey :)

Lola and Daddy pretending to be sleeping

 

Her hair is getting so long (just about to her shoulder blades)! It's time for another cut so we can finally give it some shape.

 

Fourth Of July Fun

We had a fun Fourth this year. We went to a breakfast that morning then to Park City for a parade and some festive activities and watched fireworks from the park next to our house that night.

Daddy and Lola at the parade

I've never made festive treats for the Fourth before so I tried my hand at 2 this year- Red, White and Blue cupcakes

and Red, White and Blue fruit pizza (which was super yummy and you can get the recipe from OurBestBites.com (btw)).

We found ourselves the perfect spot to watch fireworks and were able to see 2 sets going on at the same time plus a few smaller ones from around the valley as well. It was quite the show and we are excited to have found this awesome spot (that we plan to return to for many more years :)

Lola has a love/hate relationship with fireworks. She gets scared of them and covers her eyes (or her mouth like so) but she also can't take her eyes off of them! It was pretty funny to watch- she'd cover her eyes but then hurry and take her hands away to ooooh and ahhhh over them. I wonder how she'll feel about them next year?!

Happy Fourth to our friends and family! We hope you also had a great day celebrating :)