Nixon's room

Here is Nixon's room.

 

Conrad's mom made the chandelier, its a branch with bulbs. I love it. I made the blanket. I also love that.

When I bought this amazing mustard couch last year I didn't have a place for it so we stored it in a (now) good friends home:) When I bought it, I envisioned me sitting with the kids reading book after book. That dream is now reality and I LOVE this couch for that very reason. And the color of course:)

Ya gotta color coordinate your kids clothes and books right? :)

Playdates and Science

We did the fun blow the balloon up with baking soda and vinegar with Reese and H. It was a hit!  After, they played with the balloons they filled up by hitting them with plates on sticks. So easy. But they loved it. Score!

 

 

Push Mower.

When my parents lived in Michigan they had an old push mower that was my great grandfathers and it sat in the shed. One day I got it out and mowed like 1/8 of their lawn and I was dead tired but I have always loved that mower. So we got one. Conrad loves it;)

 

And of course you cant mow the lawn in 100 degree weather and not end with a water fight. Right?

Girls

Kylie and Reese have been taking a gymnastics/dance class from some cutie patooties that live right down the road. They do such a great job and they both come home beaming! Kylie said, "I'm not sure if its because my coaches are so young but they give me so much praise!'' She seriously is talented when it comes to gymnastics and isn't used to so many compliments from a coach. I love that about these cute girls!! And their mom happens to be my secret mentor/blogging hero:), you can read her blog here.

Check out that bun! Holy Hanna!

We are SO lucky to live here in the desert and have so many wonderful opportunities at our finger tips.

Nashville, TN

Well, its official we are headed to Nashville, TN for a month. Conrad is doing an audition rotation in the EM department at Vanderbilt. I am so proud of him and excited for this next chapter! We are now 4th year medical students. These past 3 years have F.L.O.W.N by. Like crazy status flown by. So now this next year we will be doing a few audition rotations at places we would like to do residency. And next year at this time we will be moving to wherever we end up doing our residency in Emergency Medicine.

 

So being in Nashville for a month is fun and all but I need a plan with me and the 3 babes! Conrad will be working at Vanderbilt so I will be solo for most of this rotation. But actually Conrad's parents will be there for 10 days and we are staying with a super nice family for the other 2 weeks! So not totally solo but still this mama needs a plan of attack!

 

 I am having Kylie do a report on Nashville to get the general stats like population, etc. But also to find fun things to do in Nashville! And boy howdy did we pick a good month to visit!! June is Nashville's biggest month. Its like country music mecca. Conrad's parents bought some super fun concert passes, so that will be bomb. Also Kylie has researched splash pads, hikes, lakes, parks and just some really fun things to do like a symphony under the stars!! Its been fun teaching her how to use a mouse (everything we have is touch screen, even our computer) and she is getting the hang, kind of, of typing. I'm super proud of her and she is enjoying it. I decided it would be a great Sunday project (because we have 1 pm church). So each Sunday she reminds me.

 

 This was just a picture from doing it for 2 Sundays so she only had a few pages but now its quite a little book!

Reading

Kylie has really taken off with reading! It is SOOO fun to watch! Reese LOVES loves loves reading books and is pretty patient when listening to Kylie read. Nixon is OBSESSED with one book. He has us read it over and over. And over. I really love it too, Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb. It has a beat through the whole book so its fun to read and change up.

Nixon turns one!

Our little man turned 1 on April 23. I am pretty lame when it comes to my kids turning one, or two for that matter. So we opened presents and sang to him. He is such a sweet boy. He is by far and away my most cuddly baby yet, always coming up to us and giving out hugs like they are a penny a pop! We just can't get enough!! He can say mom, dad, wawa, ball and what's that? Haha. So cute!!

 For his birthday he got a dog! Not a real dog of course:) Maybe one day when we have some land. But maybe not.

Gilbert

Conrad has been working in the ED this month. He is loving it. But Friday he worked late so Kelsey and I went on a sister date! We went exploring through Gilbert. It was seriously one of the best nights. I loved just lolly gagging along snapping pictures of this beautiful city we live in. I love the buildings with all their character and patterns.

 I had to snap a few pictures of this babe!

 And we ended our night with street tacos. Yumm   mmmm  m

Reese

 Reese is my little sweetie pie. Things she is doing at the ripe age of 3 1/2

- Toting her brother around like nobodies business. The sitters at the Kids Center at the YMCA wont let her pick him up there. She is pretty upset about this.
- Wants to do EVERYTHING Kylie does. Which I feel like is making her grow up faster than Kylie did. Because she is wanting to do 7 year old things not 3 year old things. How do I stop this?!
- You love SWEETS, just like your mama. You are a good eater and will try anything we ask you to try.
- You are a bit feisty.
- You say the sweetest prayers that have ever came out of any 3 year olds mouth.
- You are a great sharer with toys or anything.
- You love primary. You sit quietly but aren't afraid to answer questions or say a prayer in front of your class.
- I can bribe you anytime with chocolate.
- You have a sense of confidence you were born with. I love that.
- You are one special little girl.
- You are self directed. You are happy to figure things out.
- I think you have gotten me almost every one of Nixon's diapers since he was born. You are happy to stop anything you are doing to do that for me. (even a movie!!)
-You can clean like nobodies business.
- You have a strong spirit. We feel so blessed to be your parents and to teach you the Gospel!
-You are silly and love to giggle.
-You are up for anything. I love how chill you guys are!
- You love to learn. You can count to 17 and can almost say your ABC's perfectly. You say things like "Mom, Reese starts with rug!" or "Map starts with May!" You LOVE reading. Especially Dr. Seuss. You have a few books memorized!!
- You start gymnastics and dance tomorrow.
- Distraction has been key to keeping your little 3 year old self happy:)

I love you Reese-a-bug

Baby Bird

OK the last picture may gross you out but this is where we document our life so here is our life. Most of you know that I am NOT an animal person. But my sister, Kelsey and I are trying our best to be at least interested in them so we have started to stop people and ask to pet their dogs and such.  So it may surprise you that we took a stray bird in but I remembered all those years ago when my mom helped us kids care for our abandoned kittens that we had to bottle feed and so this short story begins... One day we came home from the park with a baby bird. Like hours from the egg baby bird. She (Emily Shay) was so tiny so we bought some bird food and Kylie used a syringe and a paint brush to feed her every hour (even all through the night).  It was a super long night but I will admit, kinda fun:)  But not fun enough to do for the next 2 months. So in the morning we took her to a lady who takes in birds and raises them to flourish in the wild. When we took Emily Shay to the lady she said she looked great and will be able to live! Good work girls!

Emily Shay is a sparrow, so she would do this (in the picture) when she was hungry so we knew when to feed her. Mama sparrows will feed their babies every 14-18 minutes and leave their nests sometimes 400 times a day to collect food!