Superstar

So I just want to share what a superstar my husband is! After many nights in a row of not enough sleep for either of us, he still takes over a 1am feeding, just so I can get more rest. Then last night, being as exhausted as he was; he dropped everything just to give me a blessing because I've been having a hard time with something. THEN this morning as I was stepping out of the shower, he personal...ly delivers a warm fresh baked biscuit to me, because he's awesome like that and had the rare chance to bake on his day off :) On top of it all, he never fails to take an opportunity to express appreciation and love for each of us, and takes the time to say that he notices the little things. Is he the most amazing husband & daddy on the planet? Yes, yes he is...

March Photos

I'm a big believer that a photo is worth a thousand words, and here are some photos from our month that capture the joy that we've been sharing in our home; with these two little kiddos bringing so many smiles to our faces. Enjoy!



I walked into the livingroom, and Tara said "Shhh...I'm reading to Liam." How cute is that?!?


Our little man...I love the way he looks at me :)





Tara and Liam just cuddling on the couch before bed.





He adORES his sister. Whenever she kisses him, it elicits a sweet little smile, and when he hears her voice; he turns his head towards her. It's amazing to see how deep the connection is already between the two of them...


Totally posed-but super cute. I just couldn't resist...


Tiny little hands...


Ten cute little toes...



AAAhhhh...yep. We make cute babies :)

"I love you mommy..."

Just now, Tara and I were cuddling on the couch during Sesame Street, and she grabs my hand and says "I love you mommy...I hold your hand." I looooove the way her hand feels in mine :) She is just the sweetest girl in the whole wide world...

Liam-Maternity Photos

Thanks to Mariea Alice Photography, we have some amazing maternity photos>here they are!

Valentine's Day fun with Mr. Martindale...

So a friend of ours who's an amazing photographer (Kristen Moss Photography) had a great deal going on fun couples photos for Valentine's Day. She was great! She took care of the chocolate covered strawberries (and other yummy romantic desserts), the long stem glasses, the location, and some amazingly romantic photos :) We had a blast-and between her efforts, and some smooth moves on Sean's part; it was the best Valentine's Day we've had since we got married! Here are some of the photos:

Baby photos-as promised!

How smart IS this girl?

So a couple of hours ago, Tara was tossing around her little nerf football; and said to me "I want to play with this at the playground." I told her that it was cold, and that Liam was still too little to take outside quite yet. She looked at me and said "I know, he's tiny. You stay here with little Liam, and daddy and me will go to the playground." (So funny!) I called Sean at work to inform him that little miss had plans for him once he got home...

Sid

This girl cracks me up! She loves to watch Sid The Science Kid, and she goes around every day, singing the opening song from dawn til dusk. It came on just now, and she's marching around the livingroom, doing the dance and singing along with the opening song. When the song was over, she throws her hands in the air and says "We did it!!!" lol I can't get enough of her cuteness, and I laughed and said "I love you Tara..." She said "I love you TOO mommy!"

Love this age!

So I've thoroughly enjoyed every stage that Tara has gone through, but I'm particularly finding so much joy in this age. She's so independent, and wants to do so much "All by myself!". She's got this little attitude that just makes Sean and I crack up most of the time. The way daddy will tease her and we hear this little voice say "NO daDDY!" Or when you catch her singing a song, and she gets shy and doesn't want you to look at her because it makes her self conscious; so she says "No watching me SING! Look over THERE!" It makes us laugh every time...But mixed in with this newfound independence is this sweet way she has of capturing our hearts by her complete wonder and awe with the world, and all her new discoveries. From seeing stoplights and cars and saying "Ohh...pretty lights! Pretty cars!" to the way she is realizing how loved she is. For example, just this morning she melted my heart. She had run off to play after breakfast, and I called after her and said "I love you so much Tara!" I heard her stop in her tracks and say "Aww..." then as she's running back into the room she had just left she looks at me with her big eyes and throws her arms around my stomach while she says "You love me!" And then she left with the biggest smile on her face, and said "I love you tOO mommy!" What an angel...I'm so in love with this litle blond haired beauty :)

Grateful...

I know it's been quite a while since I posted last, and I have some catching up to do; but I wanted to write this morning because my heart is so full. I'm incredibly grateful for two healthy, happy, active children. Liam is already showing off a bit of his personality, before he's even here. It seems like he's constantly moving, and he responds so well to stimuli. I love feeling his movements, it's one of the more precious experiences of pregnancy.

Since we're leaving town for christmas, Sean and I decided to do an early celebration for our family; and open our stockings and presents to each other early. Some number of months ago, Tara and I were reading one of her books. I was helping her correctly pronounce the words soccer ball. When she finally mastered it, a lightbulb went on; and she was SO proud of herself for saying it correctly. She started saying "Mommy! Watch this!" I'd look over at her, and she'd carefully say "So-ccer ball. Yay Tara!!!" She'd get a huge grin on her face :) This then developed into a quick understanding of the concept of what a soccer ball is, and what you do with one. She started taking those regular rubber balls that she has, and pretending they were soccer balls; kicking them around. So it was apparent to us, that we had to get her a soccer ball. She opened it last night, and immediately started kicking it around; and she was so controlled with her kicks>there was no doubt in our minds that we had to get this girl into soccer practice when she's older! She looked like she'd been playing for a long time! I'm just so grateful for how active Tara is, with her imagination and with her body.

I'm grateful for my family, I'm so blessed to have such amazing kids; and the sweetest man on the face of the planet as my husband. He always impressed me with his love for our Savior, and for our Father in Heaven. He's always been such a great example of how we should be living our lives; and his desires are so pure. I love him with all my heart, and words can not express how much he touches my heart on a daily basis. I'm thankful for the sweet little family we've created together, and can't wait to meet this little boy...I hope everyone has a great holiday season, and can remember and be touched by our Savior's birth; and what it means for us. I pray everyone can spend lots of time with family, and we'll see you all when we get back!

"I Cranky"

So I think that Tara is under the impression that the word "cranky" means tired. Not ill-tempered, or cross; just tired. Here's what led me to that belief: We were in her room tonight, about to start the bedtime routine. She was in her jammies, and sitting on Sean's lap. We hadn't even read scriptures yet, or prayed; when she said "Mommy? I wanna go to bed." So as I picked her up to lay her in her bed, she said "I cranky." She then layed her head on my shoulder, and closed her eyes, and snuggled in. She hadn't been cranky at ALL tonight, just sweet, and adorable, and fun to be around. So it made Sean and I laugh when she said that, because she obviously just meant that she was super tired. Because she was so drowsy, we decided to just have family prayer while she was all cozied up in bed. Seconds after the prayer started, she was a goner! What a funny girl...

I think her cow is pregnant...

So Tara just came up to me a minute ago with her stuffed cow, and said "Mommy! Her tummy is kicking!" I started laughing, and said "Oh yeah?" Then I heard her say "Oh no-she needs to go potty again...Where's a potty?!?"


Hmm...

Do you think she's been paying too much attention to what's been going on with mommy?

Goin to the moon...

So cute! An example of how trusting a two year old is of their parents. Sean and Tara just left to take a short walk, burn off the last of her energy. As they were headed out the door, Tara was saying "Bye Mommy! Love you! See you soon!" Sean turns to her and says "Do you want to go to the moon?" She responds with "Okay." In her world, it's totally possible. They were going on a short little walk to the moon...

"I did share!"

So for the last couple months, Tara's been so proud of herself whenever she shares something. If she hands you one of her toys, or colored pencils, or a book...she'll cock her head to the left or right, get a big grin on her face, and say "I did share!" And she says it in the sweetest little voice...it's the most precious thing ever :)

She's also very aware of when other people share, and loves to point it out. So these last few weeks if I do anything from hand her an apple slice, to giving her the book she asked for; she'll cock her head and say "You shared!" Oh my gosh how sweet is she???

Sean and I can't help but have our hearts just melt when we hear that!

Hahaha! Tara always makes me laugh so hard...

So a few minutes ago, I was craving a fresh tomato; so I sliced one up, drizzled a tiny bit of extra virgin olive oil on the slices, and a tiny bit of salt. Tara and I enjoyed every last bite. When they were gone, I said to her "That was delicious!" (A new word we've been trying to teach her the meaning of). She went to exclaim something, and started to say "That was..." and then she saw the empty plate, and said "Gone!" I busted up laughing...

Such a sweet surprise!

So on sunday mornings I'm usually the first one up. I grab breakfast, shower, and then get the rest of the family going. Yesterday when I walked into the bathroom, I came upon such a SWEET surprise...











The day before, amongst our saturday activities; we made a stop at the store to pick up some items we needed. Tara was asleep in the carseat, so I stayed in the car with her while Sean ran into the store. When he came back, he was showing me how amongst everything, he came across a couple of items he couldn't resist getting for Tara. One was a little toy pony, that he thought she'd love; since she adores her My Little Pony collection. Another was this little mini Disney chalkboard, and chalk. He thought she'd have a blast drawing on it, and maybe practicing her alphabet. Sunday morning though-I discovered that Sean had written a sweet note on it for me the night before, for me to find in the morning. What a guy...It just warmed my heart :)

Don't forget the baby!

Yesterday afternoon, Tara and I were leaving the house to walk to the park. We had a conversation that just made me smile :)

Tara: "Mommy! Where's the baby?"

Me: "Don't worry honey, the baby's still in mommy's tummy."

Tara: "Okay. Let's go!"

She's going to be a great big sister, if while still pregnant; she's reminding me not to forget the baby!

"Hello? I'm okay..."

So Tara loves to pretend she's talking on the phone, and she'll often repeat things she's heard us say while on the phone. Lately, she'll take a random toy, whether it's a block or a lego; and it will become her telephone. Here's her conversation lately...



Tara: "Hello? I'm okay. Uh huh. Okay. See you soon. Bye!"


What a goof!

First baseball game as a family!

So last night we saw our first Ems game together-and we had a blast. Sean had been dying to take her to a baseball game for some time, and he was SO happy to finally be able to do it. He had called me earlier that week from work to tell me that his boss had given him two tickets to the ems game that following saturday, and kids under 3 (I think) are free. So we went, and had a great time. We had awesome seats, the ems won, and Tara lasted through 5 innings before getting wiggly. A woman at the entrance had given her a balloon that she had attached to the gate, and Tara didn't let go of it the whole time! Tara really got into it, clapping and yelling when everyone else did; screaming "Yay!" every so often...it was so cute! And it was SO nice to see how happy Sean was, finally having brought his little girl to a baseball game; a small dream come true. Minor league or not, it was a ton of fun for our family. And a plus for prego here? There was a heavenly cool breeze blowing the whole time, so despite hormone-induced body heat; I was feelin great! Here are some of the pictures we took...






There she is with her balloon, holding on for dear life :)



We've got one happy daddy...



Haha She got a little sleepy towards the end of the 5th inning.



There she is munching on snacks and watching the game-just like everyone else! lol



The mascot was hilarious! Most of the stunts he pulled had me laughing so hard I almost cried!



Aww....daddy-daughter bonding moment :)







She crashed on the way home-clutching her balloon...

Birthday...

So my birthday was on the 23rd of August, and I got to start my day with the cutest little girl in the world asking to sit and watch "Cat in the Hat" with all and I mean ALL her stuffed animals and babies sitting with her. Sean and I got a kick out of it. What a fun way to start the day. It was a good day though, for the most part. Glad I got to share it with Rachel and the kids, Rachel and I are birthday buddies-only 12 hours apart. Her birthday's the 24th, but we celebrated together this year ;) In the couple weeks leading up to my birthday, Sean bought me a beautiful plant for our patio, and a book he knew I'd love; amongst some other things. What a sweet guy...He made it more of a birthday month for me :) Gotta keep him around...