how much I love COLOR?
12.31.2011
12.27.2011
Vacation anyone??
I have some high hopes of going on a vacation this year! I could really use one now :) I am not ready for winter and I don't think I will ever be. Logan and I were talking about trying to go to Hawaii sometime in the next year (ish) and right now that is what is on my mind!! I keep looking at beach houses, beach colors... really anything to do with the beach: sand, water, snorkeling, surf, sand castles... its on my mind.
So I decided to put together an outfit for my current dream.
I don't know what it is about blue accessories... I honestly love blue. Blue Blue Blue. All shades... its such a fun and relaxing color.
Oh and in case you haven't heard... gold is in! Not only gold, but mixing metals. So we can mix patterns and metals now... wahoo!! :)
12.20.2011
6 months and potty time...
Yep its official... she is potty trained!
There were a lot of blood, sweat and tears that went into this so it made the cut for blogging :)
I never thought this day would come... I think most of our family felt the same way because of how strong willed Larkyn is and how she absolutely refused to go on the potty. The Monday after Thanksgiving... I was determined! It is so ridiculous how expensive diapers are especially when 3 kids are in them! Sheesh!!
My mom suggested bribery... Some parents are probably against this... BUT for me it worked!! I headed to the dollar store and picked out tons of little toys that I new she would love and then I went and got the ultimate prize for her... The Rapunzel Barbie doll... she has been dreaming of having her own since she spotted it at a friends birthday party this last summer. Monday morning I sat her down and I showed her all of her prizes and I told her that every time she went on the potty she got a prize, BUT (now this is key people) if she had any accidents she got all of her prizes taken away and put back on the shelf for an entire day! You better believe she caught on quick!! The first day was great and she got most of her prizes, but day 2 was harder and there was an accident so you better believe I took them away. Day 3 came and it was perfect except 1 thing... she hadn't done the "number 2" on the potty yet. This was the big one and I new it would be a challenge so we were holding Rapunzel hostage until this big event happened. Well on that glorious day 3 it did happen! Hooray!! She has had a few accidents and yes I am still taking her prizes away when she does. She is learning fast! She will even go and get her prizes if she has an accident and tell me to put them on the shelf. LOL. Thankfully this has only happened a few times.
I can't believe how big my little girl seems now. She is growing up so fast. We are considering putting her in dance maybe mid January so she is looking forward to that!!
My twins are 6 months old! Now that is crazy!! It feels like these 2 came into our lives yesterday... and to think its been a year since we found out we were having twins. I will never forget that day. I was so overwhelmed with the thought of having twins... I was emotional, stressed, nervous, excited, scared... you name it and I felt it! That anxiety carried with me for a long time BUT now I love the adventure!! Having 2 babies really isn't that bad!! (I wish I would have listened to my neighbors tell me that I would be ok and saved myself all the worry lol) They are great babies though and maybe that makes all the difference and I promise we have had our share of bad days but I honestly couldn't imagine our lives without these 2 little girls! Larkyn adores them too! I love it when she calls them stinkers!
(sorry for the poor images... these were taken on Logan's phone)
Oaklee & Carea (Cuh-ray-uh it is not pronounced like Korea) couln't be more opposite! They even look sooo different!
Above in the picture of them together Carea is on the left and Oaklee is on the right.
We have really tall and chunky kids! I love it!!
Oaklee (baby A) - She is so funny! She already army crawls everywhere! She is always on her tummy and on the move... I swear she can't hold still for 2 seconds. Even when she sleeps she is constantly moving. She has rolls upon rolls. I should take a close up picture of her legs... I am pretty sure they even have some cellulite on them! Her face is narrower and long, she has slightly smaller eyes (like her daddy), she has a bigger mouth and bigger ears.
Her 6 month stats are: 27 inches, 16 lbs 7 oz, and her head is 43.75 cm.
Carea (baby B) - She is always making weird sounds... almost like she belongs in Star Trek or something! She doesn't like her tummy so she doesn't really get around. I honestly think because of her hemangioma on her head she is uncomfortable on her tummy. I think she bumped it a few times or something. Anyway... so she spends a lot of time in a bumbo or jumper. She is chunky.. but its definitely more solid than Oaklee! Not a lot of rolls, she is just thick haha! Her face is rounder (like mine), she has bigger eyes and she has a smaller mouth!
Her 6 month stats are: 26.75 inches, 16 lbs 12 oz, and her head is 43.5 cm.
Both girls have gained over 11 lbs since they were born and have grown 10 inches! I never thought my premie girls would have grown this fast! They laugh at everything and they both love to watch Larkyn.
I love all of my girls! Life is great!!
12.11.2011
blessings, angels and service ...
My heart is extremely full this holiday season! We have been the recipients of so many blessings not only this last month but for the last 6 months.
Life gets hard when there is a 2 year old and 2 babies. I don't care who you are and what the circumstances are... it gets tough. Emotionally, physically, spiritually, mentally, financially ... it's a lot of work. I am very fortunate to have a supporting and hard working hub, an energetic 2 year old, 2 great babies AND EVERYONE ELSE AROUND ME... MY FAMILY, MY FRIENDS, MY NEIGHBORS, STRANGERS... All these people I LOVE!
There have been so many times where I have been spread so thin, or overwhelmed, or just tired... to then have a knock on my door from someone who is willing and ready to serve me and my family. Call it coincidence... I call it a miracle. I have witnessed Heavenly Father's hand in my life dozens of times but never so prevalent as the last 6 months. He really does place you in certain neighborhoods, give you specific visiting teachers and home teachers, and he really does place people in our lives that we need and who need us.
Last Sunday was a day that I will never forget. Actually there have been many things over the last few months that I honestly believe lead up to the events that happened last Sunday. It is hard to write about things that are sacred to me and my family and to explain the emotions and feelings from the spirit, but I want to share some of the ways we literally have had angels come into our home. You see, there are different types of angels. Angels who HAVE ALREADY lived on this world, Angels who WILL live on this world AND angels who CURRENTLY ARE LIVING on this world. The angels that have come into our lives are angels who are currently living here. (we didn't have the other types of angels come... if you thought that's where I was going with this... sorry to disappoint you lol). My family has been blessed and watched over so many times that they can not be counted. It happens daily... sometimes more than once in that day. We have received so many gifts.. diapers, wipes, formula, money, food. We have been served in many ways including... weeds pulled, help cleaning, taking care of Oaklee and Carea, playing with Larkyn, a day out for Logan and I... I could go on and on (then this would be the longest blog post EVER!)
It has been hard for my husband and I to accept some of the gifts and service that has been given. I think some of these angels know that so they will anonymously leave things on our doorstep or anonymously pull our weeds.. if they could get into our home they would probably anonymously come clean and fold laundry :)
One of these angels told us last week that if we aren't willingly accepting service or gifts from others that we are with-holding blessings from those individuals. I never thought about it in that way. Everyone needs opportunities to serve so that they can also receive the blessings and comfort that they need. It is very humbling to have blessings pour out into my home and in my life.
It's never a coincidence when things have been given to us. When we needed formula ... it was given. When we needed diapers... they were on the door step. When we have needed food... that too was left on our doorstep.
I am so blessed. The love that Heavenly Father has for ME and also MY FAMILY has been obvious and abundant. He has heard our prayers and has richly blessed our lives. Anytime I have told him the things that are needed they literally appear. If you want to see a miracle before leaving this world... the fact that we have diapers and food are literally a miracle so just come on over :)
I hope that I will be as inspired as these angels have been and that I will be able to pay it forward through service, love, kindness and friendship.
Thank you to all the angels out there that have been inspired in some way to bless my life and also my family. Maybe one day I will catch the doorbell ditcher and give him or her or them a big hug!
Life gets hard when there is a 2 year old and 2 babies. I don't care who you are and what the circumstances are... it gets tough. Emotionally, physically, spiritually, mentally, financially ... it's a lot of work. I am very fortunate to have a supporting and hard working hub, an energetic 2 year old, 2 great babies AND EVERYONE ELSE AROUND ME... MY FAMILY, MY FRIENDS, MY NEIGHBORS, STRANGERS... All these people I LOVE!
There have been so many times where I have been spread so thin, or overwhelmed, or just tired... to then have a knock on my door from someone who is willing and ready to serve me and my family. Call it coincidence... I call it a miracle. I have witnessed Heavenly Father's hand in my life dozens of times but never so prevalent as the last 6 months. He really does place you in certain neighborhoods, give you specific visiting teachers and home teachers, and he really does place people in our lives that we need and who need us.
Last Sunday was a day that I will never forget. Actually there have been many things over the last few months that I honestly believe lead up to the events that happened last Sunday. It is hard to write about things that are sacred to me and my family and to explain the emotions and feelings from the spirit, but I want to share some of the ways we literally have had angels come into our home. You see, there are different types of angels. Angels who HAVE ALREADY lived on this world, Angels who WILL live on this world AND angels who CURRENTLY ARE LIVING on this world. The angels that have come into our lives are angels who are currently living here. (we didn't have the other types of angels come... if you thought that's where I was going with this... sorry to disappoint you lol). My family has been blessed and watched over so many times that they can not be counted. It happens daily... sometimes more than once in that day. We have received so many gifts.. diapers, wipes, formula, money, food. We have been served in many ways including... weeds pulled, help cleaning, taking care of Oaklee and Carea, playing with Larkyn, a day out for Logan and I... I could go on and on (then this would be the longest blog post EVER!)
It has been hard for my husband and I to accept some of the gifts and service that has been given. I think some of these angels know that so they will anonymously leave things on our doorstep or anonymously pull our weeds.. if they could get into our home they would probably anonymously come clean and fold laundry :)
One of these angels told us last week that if we aren't willingly accepting service or gifts from others that we are with-holding blessings from those individuals. I never thought about it in that way. Everyone needs opportunities to serve so that they can also receive the blessings and comfort that they need. It is very humbling to have blessings pour out into my home and in my life.
It's never a coincidence when things have been given to us. When we needed formula ... it was given. When we needed diapers... they were on the door step. When we have needed food... that too was left on our doorstep.
I am so blessed. The love that Heavenly Father has for ME and also MY FAMILY has been obvious and abundant. He has heard our prayers and has richly blessed our lives. Anytime I have told him the things that are needed they literally appear. If you want to see a miracle before leaving this world... the fact that we have diapers and food are literally a miracle so just come on over :)
I hope that I will be as inspired as these angels have been and that I will be able to pay it forward through service, love, kindness and friendship.
Thank you to all the angels out there that have been inspired in some way to bless my life and also my family. Maybe one day I will catch the doorbell ditcher and give him or her or them a big hug!
12.09.2011
windows = love
I am dying to have these stripes in my home!
I bought plain white curtains at Ikea and I have this urge to paint big chunky stripes on them! I know the stripes on these curtains were sewn on... and I guess I could do that too... but I think I want to try painting! Call me crazy! I want to paint different prints on curtains for all my rooms ... haha! Plus I love the added pop of color.
12.07.2011
my home & the motivator ...
Anyone who has come to my home over the last 5 years has probably noticed that I have issues when it comes to hanging things on my walls.
No, its not that I don't want to put holes in my walls... it's because I panic!
What if I don't like it there... will it really look ok...
For some reason I always second guess myself when it comes to decorating. Honestly, it kind of freaks me out!! I can go to a store with a vision... pick out an item or design an item that is amazing and bring it home to go in a closet. ha!!
Anyway...
So I was picked to be featured on Studio 5 for one of their house calls... a cooking house call! Yep... they were coming to my house. A house can't be on t.v. unless it's cute! Well that's what I thought! lol.
I had a lot of things to do. (keep in mind that this is all stuff that I had already.. just tucked away lol)
First... we had to get rid of the ugly green wall!!
I had some paint called Collonade Gray from Sherwin Williams. I plan on finishing the rest of my home in this color after the holidays and when I have the $$ to buy more :) So for now we only painted over the green wall and then the 2 short walls in our home.
Thanks to mom, Des, Jessica and Lindsi for helping me paint!! We were done in less than 3 hours!!
After we were done painting I called in a favor to my bestie Amy Twitty for some decorating help! I swear this is the only thing we don't have in common... she can decorate on a whim and I can not! She is so talented! She came in and she conquered in about an hour and a half ... to me that is amazing since she had no idea what I had to decorate with! I didn't have a ton of stuff... but it made a huge difference!!
the wall above still needs to be painted.
Amy also came up with the idea to use the stencil I had to make these boards. So a few days later Logan picked up some cheap white foam boards at WalMart... they came in a pack of 3 for about $2! So he then painted them with leftover paint we already had! Woot Woot!! Later down the road I would really like to do a photo gallery on this big wall and then actually stencil the 2 short walls with a pale blue. And I plan on adding some more yellows, greens, and blues and pretty much any other color that will go with other accessories down the road!
If you ever need help decorating, getting ideas, or re-finishing furniture you already have you should call in Amy to help you! I promise you will not regret it! You can check out some of her recent projects here or here !!
Landon Jonas | Utah Newborn Photographer
Isn't Landon adorable! I absolutely LOVE my job ... especially when I get the call that a new baby is born! This little guy has already been through a lot in his short time here... BUT he is home and healthy now! HOORAY!
If you are ever interested in scheduling a photo session just call me 801.390.2288 or shoot me an email haylielynphoto@hotmail.com
I am no longer doing studio sessions BUT I would love to come to your home and take photos there! What a perfect setting!! You can really show the world how crazy your kids actually are!! I call these "life style" pics :)
Happy Holidays Everyone!
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