New Pictures

So, I know I am absolutely the worst blogger in the world. But seriously, when you are working on the computer as much as I am, the last thing you want to do is get on the computer again and update your blog. So, sorry to all. But really, I am seriously going to try to do a better job of keeping it updated. Anywho.... What's new? Nothing really.

Liberty just turned 3. She went to the dentist for the very first time today. She did much better than I ever thought she would. The dentist said that her teeth look great. At her 3 year old check up with her pediatrician, she did really great. She wasn't scared of the doctor like she has been in the past, (due to steroid shots with croup). She now weighs in at a whopping 27.5 pound, which is in the 17.9% and is 36 inches tall, (3 feet for those who need some help), which is in the 26.33%. So, she is up a lot since her below 10% in both areas at 2 years old. Liberty has sure come a long ways in the last few months. She is now potty trained and can go in and do her "business" without anyone elses help. She can put her shoes, clothes, jackets, etc. on and take them off all by herself, (these are bitter-sweet things, depending on the situation!). She knows most of her colors and shapes, she can count to at least 10, she knows some of the ABC's and is doing really well in her conversations with people. She's so much fun and such a joy, most of the time!

Paisley is turning 9 months tomorrow! Man, where has the time gone? She now has 2 of her bottom, front teeth with more on the way. She has been sitting up for a while and is just a big chicken when it comes to crawling. She will get in the position to crawl, but just won't make the move forward. She is really getting frustrated with not being able to go where she wants. She is so darn chubby and it is so dang cute! Liberty was a little scrawny thing, so having a chubby baby is new for us. At the rate she is going, I think by the time Paisley gets to be about 2 years old, her and Liberty will probably be wearing the same size clothes. Oh but she is SO, SO much fun! Her personality is so different from what Liberty's was and is. She is just a really happy, easy-going baby, (nothing at all like Liberty!).

Anyways....here are some really cute pictures we got taken of the girls for Mother's Day and for their 3 year old and 9 month pictures. Michelle Kemp, Riley's sister, took the pictures. She does an amazing job! You all should check out her photography at http://www.rustybucketphotography.blogspot.com/.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIBERTY!

I can't believe that 3 years ago today, Liberty came into our lives. She is such a joy and brings so much fun and love into our family. We LOVE her so, so much! I hope you have a special birthday Liberty!

HELLO California!

So, we were lucky enough to take a vacation to California about two weeks ago and returned last week. I know, I know....I am really slow at posting, I have already caught a lot of slack from people for not posting about it yet. ANYWAYS!!!! So, we went to SeaWorld, Hollywood, Newport Beach and then of course we did the 3 days of Disneyland and California Adventure. I haven't ever really been to Disneyland, so this was not only a treat for Liberty, but I was just as excited as she was. Liberty was so cute when she saw the characters, she would scream, "MOM! MOM! LOOK! IT'S ......." It was SO much fun to watch her! Liberty got to meet Mickey, Minney, Goofy, Pluto, Donald, Eeore, Pooh, Tigger, Pocahontas, Cinderella, Aurora, Stitch, Kota, Kenai, and was able to see many, many other characters in the Pixar Parade at California Adventure.

Paisley at the pool is Las Vegas.

The Disney characters do their jobs amazingly! They were all very patient and very cute with all of the children waiting to meet them. I couldn't have been more impressed! Princess Aurora sat there and talked with Liberty for about a minute. I have NO idea what was said, but I could tell Liberty was paying attention and couldn't have been happier. Mickey couldn't get enough of Paisley. He kept trying to stick his nose in her mouth and kept playing with her and Liberty. Finally, the people there with Mickey had to tell him that he needed to move on to other people. On our last day there, Liberty had colored Goofy a picture and right when we got in the gates, we saw him. So, we had to fight a million other kids to get to him and she gave him her picture she colored and it was SO cute! He folded it up, put it in his pocket and gave her a kiss. Then, a few minutes later, he came back over to us and played with her for a minute and gave her another little kiss. These characters do their jobs well! We loved them!

Paisley trying to eat Mickey's nose.

SeaWorld was a lot of fun. It was colder that day, but it was still amazing to see all of the animals and their tricks. One of our favorite shows is the "Pets" show. I can't remember the name, but it's when they have several dogs, cats, ducks and pigs perform little tricks. It was fun to watch. Of course, we got to watch Shamu and the other whales perform their tricks too. We went down and we were able to see inside the tank and see a whale and it's baby. Unfortunately, a few of the shows weren't running that day, but it was still a really fun day. Plus, on the way back to the Anaheim area that night, we were able to see the San Diego Temple. What a beautiful temple! I had only seen pictures before and I have always wanted to see it for myself.

We decided to head to Hollywood one day and take a Stars Tour. I had taken one before, about 9 years ago, and loved it. So, we all got in an "open" van and travelled around Hollywood and Beverly Hills. We got to see many, many clubs and restaurants that the "stars" frequent. We got to see the Hollywood sign up close and overlook the L.A. area. We got to see the homes of: Charlize Theron, Bob Barker, James Dean's old house, the Skipper from Gilligan's Island, Christina Agulera (the former home of the Osbourne's), Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, Dr. Phil, the owner of GUESS, Jackie Chan, Snoop Dog, Michael Jackson (and all of the paparazzi outside of his house), Marilyn Monroe's old house, the Beckham's and many, many others. We got to go down Rodeo Drive, Hollywood Blvd., Sunset Strip and many other famous streets. It was quite the fun and informative tour. Although, I think Riley's favorite part about the whole thing was the ridiculously expensive cars we saw. I've never seen so many Bentleys before!

Dr. Phil's house

One of the many cars we saw, but this is one of Riley's favorites.

For part of our last day there in California, we went to Newport Beach. The day started off really nice, but then the wind picked up and it was crazy! We still had a lot of fun, but it was really, really windy! I would not want to live in any of those beach houses along where we were. I hate dusting! I couldn't even imagine dealing with all of the sand that gets inside the house in a wind storm. But, we all had fun! Paisley loved putting her hands in the sand and playing with it. Liberty and Riley went and played in the sand and water. Riley even buried Liberty and made the sand around her make her look like a mermaid.

The mermaid.

Overall, this was such and amazing trip! We all had so much fun and we can't wait to go back next year!

Paisley

So, I have been thinking that Paisley is HUGE and is probably off the charts in weight. Well, as always, I was wrong. I took Paisley to the doctor on Thursday for her 6 month check-up and here are her stats:

Weight: 16.51 pounds - in the 57.68%

Length: 27.38 inches - in the 93.41%

Head: 16.5 inches - in the 30.82%

So, really.....all this time we thought she had a huge head and was quite chunky. But in all actuality, she is really tall and average in weight and has a small head! Who'd a thunk it! I still don't think I will be able to give up "chunkers" as her nickname though.

She is such a cutie and brings us so much joy!

Updates....

So, I haven't posted anything for a while, so I figured I would try to update you all. Liberty is growing like crazy and is already in the horrid 3 stage, even though she doesn't turn 3 until April. Although, one wonderful thing, she is pretty much potty-trained now. (YAY! Praise the Lord!) But, we still have a few accidents now and then. But, for the most part, we are there! Paisley is now 6 months old. She is HUGE! I think she is so much bigger that Liberty ever was! We will find out what she weighs and what percentile she is in and all that on Thursday and I can't wait to compare her measurements to what Liberty's were. I swear she is twice as big as Liberty was at this age. Anyways.... she is so much fun! We just love having her! Every time Liberty comes near her, she just laughs and screams and tries to talk to Liberty, it is so cute! She is now trying to roll everywhere. I swear she is going to be crawling before we know it. Riley has been snow plowing quite a bit the last month and in his spare time, he has been hunting coyotes and trying to plan his whole hunting year with his friends and family. As for me, I have just been crazy busy it seems. Between running Liberty to the potty every 30 minutes and changing accidents in between, work, constantly feeding Paisley, (a.k.a. "the tank"), nap times, feeding times, my new calling and all of its meetings, trying to maintain a clean house, (yeah right!!!), and all of the other everyday life stuff, I feel like a chicken with it's head cut off!

Even though this last week was a crazy week, it was quite enjoyable. Riley and I were able to attend the Temple Sealing of my cousin Cameron and our great friend Kamie. So, for those of you who don't know the whole story, Riley and I kind of set Cameron and Kamie up. Now, this gets kind of confusing, so bear with me. Kamie Kemp is Riley's sister's, Michelle, sister-in-law. Kamie also worked as the secretary at Brätt Landscaping. The Brätt Family and the Kemp Family have known each other for quite a while throughout high school and church. Cameron Tingey is my wonderful cousin. We suggested that Cameron ask Kamie out and he followed through! I still can't believe that they got married! How often is it that you set people up and it actually works out? So, Riley and I are thrilled that two people that we love are now married. They are the cutest couple and were just glowing the entire day. I truly love my cousins, they have been such a great example to me through the years. I love, love, love getting together with the Tingey side of my family. It is usually only about once a year, so when we do get together, I really enjoy seeing everyone. For Cameron and Kamie's wedding present, we offered to make their wedding cake. I think they must be crazy, because they agreed! Here are some pictures, so you guys will have to be the judge!Here are so more pictures of Riley and the girls. I was telling Riley that you can't put bubble bath in a jetted tub because when you run the jets, it just creates a million bubbles and the bubbles will never stop with the jets running. So, to cure his curiosity and to prove my point, he told me to put some bubble bath in the tub. WOW! All I can say was that Liberty was in heaven. Paisley kept getting bubbles in her face and she would freak out thinking she couldn't breathe. What an experience! I hope Riley will believe me about stupid stuff like this from now on! Come on, I am the Queen of Stupid! Hehe!

New Pictures of the Girls

So, we got some pictures taken of the girls on November 12, when Paisley was 3 months old. We didn't share them or show them to anyone because we got them for others for Christmas gifts. So, now that Christmas is over, I can share how cute they are with all of you!

Christmas

As always, life is crazy. The middle part of December, I came down with a horrible cold that lasted about two weeks. About a week into the cold, I ended up getting the stomach flu too. It was not fun at all! A few days after Christmas, Liberty got croup and couldn't seem to kick it. Paisley ended up picking up Liberty's sickness, but not quite to the croup stage, and is barely seeming better today. So, in just a week and a half, we had 4 visits to the doctor's office, 3 shots, 3 visits to the pharmacy, many tears and many sleepless nights. I'm pooped! Plus, it snowed so much, so Riley was out plowing constantly. December was a hard month!

Other than sicknesses in our house, things have been really good. Christmas was so much fun. Liberty is at the age now where she is understanding the whole idea of Christmas and opening gifts. After seeing how excited and happy she was on Christmas, I can't wait until next year! Plus, we were lucky enough to have my dad in the country for Christmas this year. He hasn't been able to be around for Christmas the last two years.

Santa was very good to the girls this year. Liberty got an aquadoodle and a set of doll accessories; a highchair, bouncer, stroller, swing, car seat and diaper bag. Paisley got a jumperoo and she absolutely loves it! She seems as though she could jump in it for hours. Both girls got a Learn and Groove Table to share. AND from everyone else, they were completely spoiled! They got everything from DVD players for the car, clothes, personalized piggy banks, dolls, blankets, night lights and candy. Riley seems to think that they doubled their toy collection this Christmas, I think I'd probably have to agree.