Xiana's photo shoot

Yes, I know there are a million pictures on this post but.... a picture says a thousand words... so I don't have to say any. My good friend Lindsey took these shots of Xiana. I love them. There were so many darling pictures it was a real struggle to pick the winners that made it to the wall. Enjoy!

Fun times

We were actually in town... together... for the first Saturday in a long time so we did some fun things. First, we went with Brian's friends and brother out into the hills to go shooting. We had a great time. I think I used to be a better shot though.... I didn't hit any clay pigeons with the shotgun I used this year and only hit a couple with Brian's shotgun.
Kylee and Xiana played in the back of the truck and had a little picnic. We had spray cheese and I helped them make smiley faces on their crackers.
The boys had 4 different types of clay birds... they're fanatics that way. They also had targets and hand guns that I found especially entertaining (I liked shooting at a man figure pretending like he was a criminal and I, a vigilante).
The girls also enjoyed shooting the handguns...
Although they tired of having ear plugs in the whole time.
My balance isn't excellent due to being a bit front heavy... but fun nonetheless.
Directly after shooting we scurried out to the river where we took our engagement pictures. Brian has been taking pictures for his sister and her fiance for their upcoming wedding. We threw the grill in the car, grabbed an ice chest and bbqed right on the side of the freeway. I'm not gonna lie, it felt a little white trash, but it sure was fun. Also, I was starving by the time we got there so it was delicious. The kids played and played, fished, and found a ton of seashells that have relocated to Xiana's bookshelf.
They played make believe on the rocks for a long time. I could just sit and listen to their pretend world for hours. They are imaginative and hysterical.
The girls were having conversations with various princes and princesses on their phones whilst eating a late lunch early dinner.
And Brian was a brave cameraman.
This is priceless.
After he was finished with his camera duties, Brian and I decided to take a picture on the same bridge we took our engagement shots on.... both pregnant this time! Oh yeah, and by decided I mean I asked he said no, I threw a fit, he reluctantly agreed. So.... who's more pregnant?
The only difference is that his belly comes and goes... mine, well.... a few more months.
It was much harder getting up there than I remember.
Then he finished the day off with a little fishing. Here he is actively fighting a giant fish.... or perhaps a trunk.... we never did find out.

My Valentines...

One of my friends gave me the great idea of having Valentine's Day boxes. We had FHE at the first of the month where we decorated them and talked about who we love and how we show our love for them. It was a lot of fun and turned out to be really exciting. Xiana wasn't the only person in the house thrilled to see that her flag was up. It made every single day better and happier for me too. I could really get used to love notes every day. Plus, I found that each and every letter/card/note I wrote reminded me of how wonderful both Xiana and Brian are! About a week in Brian teased me that we had started too early as he was out of things to say. I disagreed and then found myself repeating everything from week one in week two. Oh well, a little repetitive complimenting can't hurt anyone. Xiana was so funny one day I had given Brian a card, and he had given me one, but neither of us had put her flag up. She woke from her nap elated yelling, "mommy, you have mail! Can you give me mail too?" So I got some suckers and put them in her box and put up the flag to which she squealed, " I have mail!!" Apparently she doesn't require the element of surprise.
Xiana got to go to 2 Valentine's parties and had to get 30 Valentines cards ready. She insisted that she wanted to write her own name. So she did.... 30 times. It was great practice for her. She is so talented and smart!!!
We made cookies for one party but worried there weren't enough so we bought some too. I didn't know if Xiana had a Valentine's outfit... then I realized 80% of her wardrobe is pink so....
She was a cute little Valentine!!!
The party was well attended and a great success. The kids got to make chocolate suckers in various heart shapes....
And decorate their very own bags for all their loot. Xiana goes through her bag daily (sometimes regifting the cards, others asking me to read them... again!)
Then she had preschool where they made Valentine's boxes and then came over to our house for a Mary Kay party. The girls were absolutely darling and so excited about their sugar highs.
This was coined her actual Valentine's Day dress. I'm glad it fit!
On Friday I bought two balloon bouquets and put little notes in each mailbox telling them where to go. It was fun! I tied Xiana's to a little monkey and Brian's to some candy.
Too cute this little Valentine.
I had to get a shot with the balloons and my ginormous emerging belly!
That night Brian took me to dinner and a movie and Xiana had a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's house. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed the hilarious movie.
The night before Valentine's Day I decorated the room a bit and left cards and candy for both. Brian came home from work with such thoughtful and eclectic gifts for both Xiana and myself. He gave us a wide range of things from dried fruits, to candies, to jerky, to stuffed animal, to candles. It was very sweet and showed how he knows us to be able to get the things that we love most.
I made seafood pan roast for the first time ever and it was DELECTABLE. Seriously, I'm not trying to toot my own horn or anything, but it was by far the best thing I have ever made in my life. I got sparkling cider and heart champagne glasses. It was really fun. Dinner was delicious, but the best part was spending our first Valentine's Day as a family together. It was really memorable.
The amazing creation! After dinner Brian volunteered to do the dishes (probably my favorite gift... minus all the sweet cards and notes of course) and I took a shower. We finished off with a game of words with friends.
And some dessert. A sweet ending to a very sweet day! I love you Brian!

Mom

As many of you know, my mom recently had to have a hysterectomy. She had uterine cancer and so had to have everything removed. We waited anxiously to find that she would not require radiation or chemotherapy which was a great relief to all of us, not the least, my mother. My sister Cami came out for the first week of her recovery and then Larissa came out the second. I find myself feeling so fortunate that I have such a close and loving family. My dad had to have cataracts surgery the same week as my mom's surgery and it was so wonderful to feel able to take him without abandoning mom. Garrett and I are the only two who live here and I find it so loving that my sisters relieved us of the time needed to care for my mom and dad in those early weeks. We could have done it, but it would have been HARD! Additionally, they watched Xiana for me on the days that I worked which was an extra help. I don't know if anyone has ever given Xiana such undivided attention as Cami did. She did puzzles with her, played memory with her, and got down on the ground to Xiana's great delight. Xiana had such a wonderful time with her aunt and talks about her daily. Then, when Larissa came she brought her youngest, Danielle. Xiana had a great time playing big sister to this sweet baby, and I got a taste of what it's going to be like when we have a new baby. Every time I touched Danielle Xiana thought she needed to be on my lap right then. I think jealousy might be an understatement for this spoiled little girl. Still, I know it's no different than the adjustment that any toddler makes when welcoming a new baby into the family. My brother and sister-in-law would have been out in a heartbeat to help care for mom too. My parents are such amazing and wonderful people and it is truly touching to see how important they are to all of us. It isn't every set of parents that know with sincerity that if needed, all 5 of their children will be there in a heart beat. What a testament of their love and gifts to us. Though it was a scary and painful thing for my mom to go through, we are so grateful that the outcome was so great.
Xiana and I went with Larissa to visit her in-laws... another great and loving family! It was wonderful to see them all!!!

Jean girl

We've had something of an 80's preoccupation around here in dressing Xiana in jean almost every day. I had no idea she had so many jean dresses, skirts, and jackets. She is too cute for words. I just can't stand it sometimes!
She has also started showing us the "proper" way to play the piano which is just with your fingers... no banging on the keys for her!
Story time at the library is something we absolutely love! They are so fun and WELL attended. There are a million kids that go. Xiana jumps right into the circle of kids and plays plays plays!

Preschool

Take week two. These girls were just as adorable as last time and... again, their free time was spent in such an organized and structured way. I see them all emerging as leaders and diplomats! They had such fun and followed each other's enthusiasm and excitement.
And spear headed lots of games of ring around the roses.
And sometimes just played chase and fall.
We worked on recognizing the first letter in each of the girl's names then we made creations with corn starch noodles. These amazing little girls took it upon themselves to make letters out of the noodles. I kept overhearing them saying, here is a T for Taylor and the like. They made all kinds of letters just to confirm their intelligence.
Then they played with marshmellows and toothpicks and had cupcakes for Savana's birthday. It was such creative fun!

Play group

In January I was in charge of planning my ward's play group so I did what all who know me would expect from me... I married my old ward to my new ward and never had to pick which playgroup to attend. I am a friend sharer... I always have been. I have been quoted saying, "I can't wait till we die and all of the people I love will get to meet all of the other people I love." Perhaps it's a bit morbid, but I truly do feel that way. I love when people I care about get to meet others. I get excited when they hit it off. I hope that they can all see the value in each other as clearly as I can see it in them all. We had a lot of fun in January and Xiana, like her mama, got to see ALL her friends instead of just half. We had great turnouts from both wards and, I hope, established new friendships. You know... you never can have too many friends!

Xiana lost my notes

I haven't written a funny Xiana story in a long time. There is an explanation. First, I. am. busy. Second, Brian bought me an i-phone for Christmas so I gave Xiana my old phone. She loved it. She carried it around, took pictures with it, sent texts and emails, and charged it daily. Until... I went to Utah. The phone has not been seen since. The problem? All of my notes from the funny things I want to remember to document are in the phone. So... I will use the notes I have for now and then some day... if the phone every re-emerges I'll have a whole new set of clever anecdotes. Still:

• One day while at Walmart there was a man with swastikas on his shirt. The cashier was deeply offended and very loud about how un-cool she thought that was. As we were leaving Xiana asked me what was on his jacket. I told her he had "mean things" on there. A few days later I almost turned in front of a cop who had the right of way. I said, "phew, I'm so glad I didn't turn then because I could have gotten a ticket." Xiana said, "yeah, and he would take you to jail." I told her, "no, police take people to jail for doing really bad things like stealing or doing drugs or kidnapping." "yeah," she said, "or putting mean things on your jacket!"


• She has been particularly interested in my tattoos as of late. One day she asked me why I had tattoos since God didn't want us to put them on our bodies. I explained to her that I made a bad choice and that I disobeyed God but that I could repent for it because of our Savior. She thought about it for a moment then said, "I disobeyed God once too because I was at my friend's house and she gave me a coffee candy and I ate it cause I didn't know it was a coffee candy." It was really sweet. I then tried to explain to her the difference between a sin and a mistake or accident. She then justified my tattoos by insisting that I didn't put them there... someone else did :)


• One day at the store there was a large family. She confidently told me, "they sure have a lot of kids!"


• She was watching Winnie the Pooh and she exclaimed, "mommy, that bear is gonna be my husband because I love him sooo much!" "oh?" I asked,"so you will have little bear babies." "No," she replied, "we're going to have a mouse baby."


• One morning she told me, "mommy, my foot was hurting, but then my ankle farted and now it feels much better."


• While watching the movie Tangled Xiana got a little bit confused because there is a fake mommy that pretends to be nice even though she is cruel. She was concerned that Rapunzel was disobeying her mother. I explained to her that she wasn't her real mother, but that she was mean and her real mother was sad because she was trying to find her. At a part in the movie where the fake mom is being particularly sweet and sugary followed immediately by her true mean colors shining through, Xiana leaned over to me and said, "that mean mommy doesn't even know she's mean." Well said!


• One morning she limped out of her bedroom and (copying her dad) said, "I'm getting old. You know how I can tell I'm old? My feet feel old!"


• Xiana is obsessed with being a Sunbeam at church (the class for 3-year-olds). She talked about it for months before she got to go. She kept telling us that she was going to big girl school and she was oh so proud. For the last few weeks of nursery her leaders took her into primary to get a feel for it. Her first day there she answered 2 questions and got to put up ornaments on the activity tree. She went her official Sunbeam day and was beside herself with joy. She told us, "in big girl school today we learned about Jesus and Mary." She then proceeded to list off all the kids in her class and tell me that one of them was crying for her mommy. "But that's silly," she said, " cause we are in big girl school and big girls don't cry for their mommies." The following week we were in Las Vegas and I was a little bit apprehensive about sending her to primary in an unfamiliar ward with unfamiliar teachers, but... she insisted. About half way through I peeked my head in to see if she was doing all right and a teacher in the back assured me, "she's fine.... she's very..... outspoken. Don't worry, she'll tell you all about it." This was a great relief to me and quite hilarious as I am well acquainted with my outspoken child. When Brian picked her up from her class the teacher said that Xiana acted like every question was directed at her, like she was the only person in the class and the teacher was just teaching her. She is so sweet and I'm thrilled that she's so eager to learn in all environments. Last Sunday she told me her lesson was about when Jesus taught "the guys." "Oh," I said, "that's right, Jesus taught everyone and he especially loves children." "No! Not children mommy, the big guys." "Oh, the disciples!" I figured out. "Yeah," she said, "but you don't know about them because you weren't there!"
• For family home evening we read the Friend because of lack of preparation. There was a story about Jesus' resurrection and I asked Xiana what that meant. She said, "It means that you can't die again." Pretty good!
• While stopped at a light Xiana in the back seat said, "dude, come on!!!" I asked her who she was talking to and she said, "the guy that's in our way." I guess I need to watch my road rage. On another drive I was yelling for a guy to go and she said, "mom, he can't hear you." Then, a couple days ago she said, "that guys a jerk!" I explained to her that we don't say that and that I'm sorry I've said it before but we don't know anything about the people on the roads and it is unkind of us to use mean words. She responded, "okay, next time my daddy says it I will tell him we don't use that word." :)
• She must be ready for a new baby because she is quite familiar with the lingo. The other day I overheard her playing doctor giving her baby an "ultrasound."
• She has a Princess and the Frog poster and one day she told me, "that's silly that the poster doesn't show all the parts. I want it to show all the parts from the movie."
• At home one evening she told Brian and I: "today I made a mean choice and I'm not telling you." We went back and forth for quite a while, me insisting that she had to tell us, her insisting that she wasn't going to. Finally she indicated that she had not, in fact, made a mean choice. I asked her why she said that and she answered, "Because I thought it was funny."
• My dad has worn glasses for the last 50 years or so. He recently had cataracts surgery and no longer wears his glasses. One of the first times she saw him post op she insisted that he didn't look like himself anymore. Who? pray tell did he look like to her? Abraham Lincoln!!!!!
• She lovingly refers to her favorite toys as pocket "pollys"...