Catch up post!

Halloween! The kids were very excited about their costumes. Max insisted on being a magician after we saw a lame magic show at the Heritage theater.

Brooke took these pics of the kiddos. I love them!

I just think Max and his cousins are so cute. They all play really well together. They are probably playing Angry Birds on the ipod or something. Kids these day and their technologically advanced toys!

We had our Christmas recital last Thursday, now I can finally relax and catch up on months of lost blogging. I have just been posting pictures to facebook because it's so much faster and easier. I don't waste too much time on blogger anymore, but I do like the journal aspect of blogger.

Rydgee, Emmy and Max. They sang so well!

Tia, Faith, Jericka, Abby and Brigette. I absolutely love their costumes.

Max and Emmy have been buddies since they were born. They are betrothed...

Whitney and Danzi! So cute! They tell me the sweetest little things in class. Kids are awesome. I love teaching.

Max and Lisa have the best imaginations. They are best buddies. Lisa takes awesome care of Max and Gracie and they disappear for hours when we are there.

Mike and I got to go on another awesome FREE cruise thanks to Living Scriptures! We had to wait a long time in the airport so we started taking strange pictures. We are dorks.
The classic before dinner pose. We have a million of these and in most of them we are wearing these outfits. We are cheap!

Barbados street market after a long day on the beach. We loved Barbados!
This was a lookout point in St. Lucia. Our cab driver tried to rip us off. Big surprise.
We rented vans in Antigua. This island was also really fun. We spent a lot of time exploring in these awesome vans. I had to sit on the emergency brake the whole time, but hey, it was an adventure!
This was in St. Maarten. We rented 4 wheelers and went up to Fort Louis.

Before we left the kids were very interested in the cruise brochure. They are so stinkin' cute. I want to squeeze their cheeks to death!

Southern California Part 2!

I didn't take any pictures at Sea World, which was fabulous, but here are a few pictures of us on the yacht we stayed on. It was AWeSomE!


Max loved sleeping on a boat. He thought it was very cool.
We even had cable on the boat! Thanks again friend!

Southern California Vacation Part 1!

I had to start with Gracie's cheesy face. She does this every time we take her picture. As you can see, she was very excited to be in Disneyland!

We spent a little time at the Pirate's lair. Max loved looking for the treasure. I think it's fairly new, because I had never seen it before. We saw the actress Molly Ringwald while we were on the little island. It's hard not to stare at famous people, even if you're not really a fan.

Max is such a poser. Here he is on the treasure he found. Don't you love the leisurely posture?

Gracie was pretty happy during our trip. People kept telling us how sweet she looked. It was actually pretty cold there. We were bundled up pretty much the whole time.

Yo Ho, Yo Ho a pirate's life for me!

Gracie stayed asleep for about 4 rides. We really loved the snuggles.

Gracie doesn't look very happy but she actually had a great time.

These pictures are a little backwards, but here we are on the way down.


Max loved the little travel games we got him.

My little cheeseball!

Gracie has been so cute lately! Well, she is always cute, but she is finally acting cute too. For a while there her teeth were bothering her and she was constantly grumpy. Now she is just as happy and cute as can be.

We have been having a lot of fun with her since Max started preschool. She gets all of the attention and she loves it. This morning she was licking the salt off of a plate and she loved it. I was giving her a bite of my hard boiled egg and when it was gone she stole my plate and walked around licking it for a while. It was hilarious!

When we told her to smile for the pictures she was totally cheesing it. I love her cute expression in the pictures. She is so funny.

Lately she has been getting into the pantry and bringing out the marshmallows. She loves to munch on them. She doesn't say much, but she can say Daisy pretty well. She can also whine for things too!

She loves it when Max tickles her, and she loves to be chased by her Daddy. She has been an awesome snuggler too. She LOVES to eat and will eat pretty much anything we put in front of her, but she seems to love apples the most.

I love my sweet little Grace and I'm so glad I'm her mom. She is becoming a little sweetheart!

Oh my little Max. Melt my heart.

We just got these pictures taken a couple weeks ago. I think they turned out pretty good. Lewis family pictures to come soon....

Max has been the best little boy today. He has been telling me he loves me all day and that he wants to grown big and strong so he can be in charge and marry me someday. Here's how our conversation went,

Max: You only marry one person and that's all, huh mom?
Me: Yep.
Max: Well, I will just have to wait my turn then. When I get big and strong like you, I will protect you from bad guys and beat them up if they try to hurt you and if you get hurt I will hug you till you feel better. K Mom? We will get married in the temple, but it will be strange if I'm small, cause I won't know what I'm doing or where I am. I just love ya Mom.
Me: That is so nice Max! You are such a good boy.
Max: I know. I'm awesome.

Then 5 minutes later, Gracie was trying to get into the dog food while I was cooking dinner. I kept telling her to stop. Finally, Max was frustrated with me and tried to tell me how to discipline her a little better.

Max: Mom, you have to get fired up.
Me: I'm trying Max, she just isn't listening to me. I don't know what to do with her.
Max: Yeah, she is getting on my nerves too. You just have to get really fired up and scare her and make her cry. Isn't that right mom? When you scare me, I know you're serious.
Me: I think I am fired up Max. Don't you think?
Max: Well, just get little more angry and say NO NO NO Gracie. Then she will get scared and cry and stop.
Me: Ok. I will keep that in mind Max. Thanks for your help.

I could write things about Max every single day. He is very creative and always asks me to make him things. Lately he has been asking for a Bugs Bunny costume. He told me that I only need some gray fabric and I could whip it right up.

He is always so happy. I love his little face:)

Gracie, on the other hand, has been a stinker! She is super cute, but very dramatic. If she is upset she throws a tantrum and lays her face in her hands!

At her 1 year checkup she was 21.4 pounds, and in the 50th percentile. She was in 75th for height and 90th for her head. She is getting so big and when she is happy she is the cutest little girl around. She loves to give kisses to everyone and is actually a pretty good snuggle bug. She wakes up at 6:45 or 7 every morning and is down for her first nap before Max even gets up for the day. She loves to say, "Uh Oh. Hello. Ma Ma and Da Da." When she rests her head on your should she says "Ahhh." She flirts with all of our neighbors and if someone waves at her, she acts shy and buries her face in my shoulder. She has four teeth, two on top and two on the bottom. She is a sweetie and we love her!

Gracie turns 4!

My little sweetie turned 1 yesterday! I can't even believe a year has passed by. I am a little sad, but a also excited for what's to come. It's so fun to see her learning and growing. She has the cutest personality.
She loves music and she bounces up and down when I'm singing or Max is dancing around the front room.
She is getting huge! She was over 20 pounds last time I took her in to the doctor.
She loves the bath and will literally try to crawl in if she hears the water running. If she is ever in a bad mood, the tub will cheer her up!
She absolutely loves Max and he makes her giggle all of the time.
She gives kisses, claps, and waves hello really well.
When we leave the room she gets upset and throws a little tantrum by laying her head in her hands and crying. She is very dramatic about everything.
She is a very good baby and is rarely cross unless she is tired or hungry or someone leaves her alone in a room.
Mike taught Gracie to lay her head on his shoulder when he says "ahhh!." It is very sweet and we absolutely love it when she snuggles with us!

Ayla was staying with Grandpa and Grandma Ulrich and she came to Gracie's party with them. She was so cute trying to feed Gracie her birthday cake.

Gracie was very spoiled on her birthday and got musical instruments, a Jessie doll, 2 books, outfits, cowgirl boots, mary jane shoes and stacking toys! The other kids loved her toys as much as she did!
She kept trying to grab the candle off of her cake. It was a bear with a tutu. The colors were very bright and fun just like my little chubbykins!

Grandpa Dave and Ayla

It was extremely difficult to get Max and Gracie to smile at the same time and the flash was bothering Gracie so she kept squinting.


Here is a spread of some of the toys she got for her birthday. I took the picture before Grandma and Grandpa Lewis and Ulrich showed up:)

She did pretty well opening her presents. She ripped open the paper on her own.


Happy Birthday Gracie Kay! We love you so much and we love watching you grown. You can stop growing now please!