Bathing Beauty

My sun bathing partner for the day!

Wish You Were Here!

We made it to San Diego this morning! It's so beautiful here, we love it. Donevan has a business conference he was invited to attend and Emma and I are tagging along. We had no idea how nice this resort we are staying at would be. Our room is on the water. This is the view inside and outside our room. Brittany told Grandma Margo that "Daddy would be in meetings all day and Mommy and Emma would be stuck in the hotel room all day." I don't mind being stuck here at all. I wish we could have brought the girls. We are right across from Sea World. But, we are grateful for our little getaway and thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Neider for watching D and the triplets for us.

We landed around 11am and Donevan didn't have to attend the conference until the late afternoon so we took advantage of siteseeing San Diego a little bit. We drove to see the LDS Temple which is beautiful. We just enjoyed the sunshine and scenery. The palm trees here are so amazing. The smell of the beach is my FAVORITE thing ever.

We enjoyed lunch on the water at our resort. 2 more days of paradise. Tonight we are going to hit one of the 5 pools on the resort grounds and walk on the beach. Emma has been an angel!

Wish You Were Here!

Happy Birthday DJ!

When I look at this little guys brown eyes, my heart melts. I love him so much and I can't believe it's been 2 years since the day he was born. Wow, time flies. I know that he has such a special place in our hearts because we really didn't think we would be able to have any more children after my complications with the triplets. So, to have him is such a blessing. Then to top it all off, he's our only boy, so he is spoiled!!!! At one point a few months ago we walked in the room and Ashleigh had him wrapped in a blaket and was holding him, Caitley was feeding him and Brittany was rubbing his feet. Can you say spoiled!!! Now with a little sister too, we're sure he'll make a good husband one day.

His birthday party was really fun. We had Grandma Margo and Grandpa Kenny over and just had a little family party. He loves Handy Manny on the Disney Channel and is really into tools so he got some fun Manny toys and a new bike! He's been having fun banging up my cabinets and scratching my stainless fridge with it riding on the tile! :) I know he's going to get a lot of mileage on that in the cul-de-sac this summer.

I was reading in a parenting magazine the other day that everyone always talks about how bad the terrible two's are, but really it's the year between 1 and 2 that is so hard. I hope this is true. Boys are so different than girls and you don't understand it until you live it. DJ has so much energy and is curious about everything. I have my fingers crossed that the making messes stage is behind us. I can definietely see in the last few months how much he has grown up. He's talking in little sentences now and understanding right from wrong. DJ loves life and is so fun to be around. He makes everyone around him smile because he is always so happy. We love him so much and he brings us so much joy. Happy Birthday little D, we love ya! On to potty-training!!!

Happy Green Day!!!

I decided to be that "fun mom" and I woke up early St. Patrick's Day morning and made the kids green pancakes. They turned out yummy and the girls and DJ loved them. Then I got the dreaded phone call from the school, "I have your daughter Caitley here in the clinic and she got sick and threw up green something in the lunch line". Well it wasn't the green pancakes that made her sick, she got the stomach bug. But, I do feel horrible that on the day I decide to do something fun for the kids, it ended up being embarrassing for her. She's a trooper and said, "It's ok Mom, atleast none of the big kids were there to see it, just my class."

Kit Is Finally Here!

Caitley has been waiting for her American Girl Doll "KIT" to arrive. She sat in the office watching for the UPS guy all day. She saved for this doll for a few months now. Her Grandma said that if Caitley would save for 1/2 the doll then she would pay for the other 1/2. So for the last few months Caitley has been doing everything she could to earn money for Kit. She babysat, changed diapers, took the trash out, unloaded the dishwasher, cleaned baseboards, dusted, etc. She even helped clean Grandpa's office to earn money. She had many opportunities to spend this well earned money the last few months, but wouldn't even touch her money because she was saving for Kit and Kit only. If we went to the store and I told the girls to bring their money for a treat, she would pass on a treat. She didn't even complain or get jelous when her sisters bought something, she was just so matter of fact about it. She was getting this Doll. So, we are so proud of Caitley for earning her money and I know she will take such good care of Kit and love her even more now that she has paid for her. Thanks to Grandma Margo for helping with the doll and teaching Caitley how to earn money for special things.

If you want a good tear jerker of a movie, rent the Kit Kitridge American Girl Movie. It was really good! I was expecting a low budget kind of a movie, but it was not at all. Chris O'Donnel plays her Dad. Donevan and I were shocked to realize that we are old enough to see Chris O'Donnel play a Dad in a movie. Then we realized we have little girls almost Kit's age and that freaked us out even more.

DJ Turns 2 This Week!

We are all excited for DJ's Birthday this week. It's hard to believe that he's been a part of our family for 2 years now. He is a busy boy and into everything, but he brings so much joy to our lives..He has his little sisters and his Mom wrapped around his little finger. And as you can tell from the outfit, him and his Dad are buddies too. More to come this week after his birthday!

A Tinkerbell Party

For the girls birthday we had a fun late night, PJ party with 13 little girls. It was a tinkerbell party. We had pizza and watched the new Tinkerbell movie which by the way is really cute. We were excited to have our finished basement to have all the girls hang out in. We LOVE our couch that can hold all these little girls.

Donevan and I had discussed a low key birthday for them this year. I went to the dollar store, purchased a few items, bought a cake mix to make, and planned on throwing a conservative but fun party. Donevan (the ultimate party thrower) a day before the party came home with green flowers for the girls, green sprakling cider, pop rocks (pixie dust), and tons of tinkerbell decorations and party favors. Last but not least, his little girls had to have a tinkerbell cake. It was a really fun night.