Milesstones: Evelyne 21 & 22 & 23 Months Old + Some About Austin Because Mom is Falling Behind

She is truly the sunshine in our lives!

Okay so obviously I've let myself fall behind on the milestone blogs..... sorry Eve. Life is just flashing before my eyes and I can't make it slow down! I am staring down the reality that my baby girl will be turning 2 years old next month and I am in total shock! HOW DID THIS HAPPEN??? How did two years go by that fast?! I guess we take the phrase "time flies when you're having fun" to heart! And oh the fun we have had! Well, minus the fact that we have been perpetually sick with one bug or another every week of every month since October.... :(. Seriously, this cold/flu season has been AWFULLLLL!!! No, beyond awful. HELL-ish! I thought we were finally getting past it now that spring is here and the sun has come out to play, but then Austin came down with a bout of the flu which passed to Josh over this past weekend and we are crossing our fingers that it leaves us now without taking Evie and I down with it.....

Anyways, back to my baby girl and the past three months of her beautiful life! Plus there will be some pictures of Austin along the way because I have fallen too far behind to write a separate post. I only have so much time before nap time is over....

Evie is as mischievous as ever! She is always trying to be an annoyance to her brother as he has always been to her. She is also trying so hard to grow up these days! She refuses to sit in a high chair, and recently started climbing out of her crib and opening doors! I took care of that by lowering her crib mattress to the ground like we had to do with Austin, but who knows how long that will last. She also wants to be potty trained so badly and is always asking to use the potty! However, she hasn't quite figured it out yet and just sits there while nothing happens. I'm sure in about 6 months she will be a pro at it though. That's just how she is! She doesn't give up until she has accomplished what she sets her mind to! I will let all the pictures do the rest of the talking; there's a lot of them!

Evelyne over the past three months (and Austin):

At the park hunting for leprechauns on St. Patricks Day!

Searching for that pot of gold....

We found him! (or her lol). The kids enjoyed their "gold" candy :).

We spent the day at the lake with Grandma Helm, and my Cousin Heather and her son Alex. They were visiting us from Texas and it was the perfect day to go out and feed the fish!

The kids thought feeding the fish was the greatest thing ever and cried when we had to go home.

We ate lunch on the Marina and it was yummy! This was the only group photo we got because the whole day was about watching the kiddos enjoy the wonders of nature!

Cousin Alex showing Austin how to do it.

We love Great Grandma Helm soooo much!

The kids took turns having me lower them into the water off the dock so they could put their feet in with all the fish! I was surprised they weren't too scared to try it! In fact, it was the opposite!

Touching the fish with their toes :)..... one of my favorite childhood memories!

Hanging out at Grandma Helm's house is always a good time!

Trying to get our fortune read by the pirate on the marina. It turns out, all he said was "give me more money" haha!

Sweet little sundress, little mary jane shoes.... she is childhood perfection!

All those fish!

We brought plenty of popcorn!

Watching those fish in awe...

After our wonderful day at the lake, we went back to Grandma's house to hang out in her back yard and eat popsicles!

Brekafast at Kneaders :). This girl loves her pancakes!

Taking a walk on a beautiful spring day!

Sister is OBSESSED with Minnie Mouse! Seriously, trying to get her out of these pajamas is like prying a rib from a homeless man!

She is seriously the sweetest! I was laying on the floor after my workout and she came over, draped her favorite blankie on me, and started rubbing my back!

She is also dressing herself these days! It is an excruciatingly long process and drives me crazy but she is so proud of herself when she is finally done! This girl can and WILL do anything she puts her mind to!

Sunglasses shopping with Mama :)

Our first pool day on the first day of spring with Aunt Nana and our friends Chauntelle and little Blakely!

I have been dying to put her into her new swimsuit!

Austin surprised me by his bravery while swimming in the deep end without help!

View from the back side :).

Evie LOVES her Aunt Nana. She asks to see her almost every day!

Flower shopping to plant this years garden!

"Mary Mary quite contrary, how does your garden grow?....."

Austin was not a fan of getting his hands dirty at first and told me "I will just be in charge of watering the plants after you guys plant them" haha! But eventually curiosity got the best of him and he joined us in the dirty task ;).

Fingers crossed that we get plenty of tomatoes this year! Austin LOVES tomatoes!

I love this girl's fashion choices! Sun dress and furry boots for the win!

We surprised Evie a month early with her new forward facing car seat! She loved it!

Taking our first walk in the sunshine this year after busting out the shorts! Where have those little legs been all winter?!

Austin was more interested in pushing his own stroller than enjoying the sunshine and flowers. Mr. Independent showing his true colors! We looked ridiculous pushing two strollers with nobody in them hahaha!

Climbing trees!! Evie is so brave when it comes to keeping up with her older brother.

Sick again.... so tired of being sick :(.

Evie giving herself some tattoos while Mom wasn't looking....

As the kids get older, technology is becoming increasingly fascinating to them! It is nice because it keeps them entertained, but I am not liking the fights we have been having when I try to get them to do something BESIDES stare at a screen....

Oh that chubby face! I'm smitten by her!

Ever since he was a tiny baby, Austin has pulled this James Dean look whenever he isn't happy with something or someone. I think it's adorable which is probably not the reaction he is going for haha!

Grandma and Grandpa R. came to visit us for a weekend! Evie made sure she got lots of loves in from her Grandpa!

We took the Grandparents to the park!

Obviously we played pretty hard at that park haha!

Making homemade noodles!

These noodles were so much fun to make! Nobody would eat them though.....

Evie trying to steal a noodle while Austin was busy cutting the dough into strips.

Mama showing Austin how to cut a straight line.... I love these little bonding moments in the kitchen with my kids!

Rolling out the dough

Those doughy hands! Someone has been hard at work in the kitchen!

I have been trying to do "learning time" with the kids each day. We have all been enjoying it!

Building with Lincoln Logs!

Austin building us a barn!

He can be such trouble while he's awake, but so innocent while he sleeps....

LaFeber dance party! We were supposed to be cleaning up the dinner dishes but crazy Daddy turned on some 80's music and it turned into this!

Just look at that face while she danced with her brother! Having the time of her life!

Enjoying us a Happy Meal picnic outside and lots of lovin'!

Story time at the library has become a new favorite!

This gift from Grandma Helm has also been a big hit around here. We have to keep it in the garage now though because Austin ended up coloring all over his walls in his bedroom.....

My poor sick kids :(. Green smoothies for days! It was the only thing either of them would eat!

Hey, it's healthy right?!

We were trying to watch the Super Bowl when suddenly a streaker ran past!! Turns out it was just Evie.... hahaha!

Oh how I love my goof balls :).

Evie is a born dog lover. She is obsessed!

Digging outside in Grandma and Grandpa Porter's yard with the dogs. Child heaven!

Evie and Blakely are the best of friends! They get so excited when they see each other and are always hugging and kissing! It's too cute!

Austin reading his sister some stories about bugs :).

Oh my gosh that tushie! I could squeeze her all day!

I traded out Evie's rocking chair for a book shelf and she LOVES it! The girl loves books! We read before she goes to bed and she brings books into bed with her and a flashlight and reads clear into the night!

Austin passed out again from too much fun ;).

This girl pulls at my heart strings daily with that crooked smile and that happy go lucky personality!

Not to mention the adorable clothes I get to dress her up in!

Story time at the library again! Austin was front and center because today we were learning about Ninjas ;).

Austin is such a sweet brother and Evie adores him! As they get older they are becoming the best of friends! But staying true to sibling nature, they also fight constantly....

Cooking dinner with Aunt Nana.

Morning Yoga with Mama! Austin is my workout buddy!

Passed out on Daddy while they watched basketball :). Must have been an interesting game!

Smiles for days! I love that she wakes up so happy!

That little mischievous grin! I'm in love!

There's a ghost in our house! (Don't worry, it's just Evie) hehe!

Little smarty pants reading books at the library.

Crafts at Story Time!

Turning 29! Celebrating the Last Year of My 20's

I was so excited for this Birthday! Josh had a whole big weekend planned out for me that included my Mom watching the kids and me getting LOTS of TLC! It was going to be perfect.... and it would have been if that week hadn't turned into the week from hell :(.

You see, it all started with  my alcoholic Mother getting wasted and driving her car off a cliff. Yes, you heard right. I still can't get over the shock of it myself. So my sisters and I spent a very crazy night in the hospital with my drunk Mom (who by the way, can't remember anything from that night). It was awful, annoying, exhausting, basically all the bad things. Then she was discharged and we had to figure out what to do with her! She couldn't go back home because obviously she has a very big problem and although we knew she drank, we didn't know how bad it had become. We were also worried about Nathan coming home from working outages and losing his mind on her (which would not be helpful). So another stressful day went by with no sleep and severe anxiety. We finally talked her into going to Rehab and tried our best to get her out of the house before Nathan came home but that didn't work out. Oh my gosh, talk about stressful! Briana stood guard and took the brunt of his anger while my Mom packed all her things as I was on the speaker phone talking her through everything and going over everything that needed to be taken care of while she would be away. There was a lot of crying, a lot of screaming, and a lot of bad memories :(. But by the end of that night we got her checked into Rehab and I was hoping to get at least 4 hours of sleep before I had to go to work early the next morning. Wrong again! I then spent that night answering phone calls from all my Mom's siblings who had just learned about our current situation. Then I went to work for 14 hours, and all day at work I felt terrible. I kept getting really dizzy and had to go sit down. I knew something was wrong with me but I figured it was due to not sleeping for a couple days + intense stress. I was wrong again! I woke up the next day feeling beyond awful. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't talk, and I had zero energy. After waiting 6 hours for my Grandma Wiegel to drive from St. George to help with the kids so I could go to Urgent Care, it turned out I had pneumonia :(. It was quite the shocker! The doctor said it was pretty bad and told me both my lungs were totally filled with fluid. She couldn't believe I didn't know I had pneumonia and I admit I was surprised too! All I could figure was my body was trying to ignore my own pain while I was busy trying to solve everybody else's. Josh couldn't take time off work so luckily Grandma stayed with us for a couple days while I slept. I felt like I could have slept for weeks, I was that exhausted. We also had plenty of well wishers and meals delivered from my sweet friends in the ward.

Sitting on the couch waiting for Grandma to show up while my kids destroyed the house around me...

This is what I did for three straight days!

All our plans for my Birthday were ruined and my spirits were so low.... like below zero low. It was too late to get our money back for our hotel and we didn't know how we would be able to go anywhere anyway with me being super sick and the little fact that our babysitter was currently going through detox :(. Then my sweet sister Briana came to our rescue! She and my cousin Jessica slept over and babysat the kids while Josh and I stayed at Mandalay Bay! Obviously it wasn't a "party" kind of hotel stay. It was more like an enjoyable relaxing day/night sleeping and lounging by the pool kind of stay. Josh had also bought me a 90min massage which I enjoyed immensely, even though I lied to the lady and told her I wasn't really that sick.... It was different from what we had planned, but great all the same!

So thankful for my sweet hubby. He makes me happy when skies are gray!

Lounging by the pool on the man-made beach (which by the way was super cool) and soaking up the sun was just what I needed!

We woke up the next morning, grabbed breakfast at Starbucks, and ate in our bed while we enjoyed our last few kid free hours. I also took two hot baths in the giant Jacuzzi tub! It was just what the doctor ordered :). Then we checked out of our hotel, picked up Cafe Rio for lunch, and headed home to our babies. We got home to a beautiful surprise! Briana and the kids had made me a cake! It was crumbly and falling apart with a large layer of icing and sprinkles on top but I started tearing up when I saw it because it was so obvious how much love had gone into making it! Austin was so proud of himself and couldn't wait to tell me all about how he made it :). Honestly, it was the greatest cake of my life! And it was yummy to boot!

My sweet boy and the "Happy Birfday cake" he made for his Mama :).

So all in all, my Birthday actually turned out to be pretty awesome. It took me a good two weeks to recover from the pneumonia and the drama with my Mom just continues.... but I have a beautiful memory of my Birthday weekend to remind me that there are so many people who love me... and that makes me the luckiest 29 year old in the world :).

I am so so blessed!

Sadie came over that afternoon with a beautiful vase of flowers and hung out for a couple hours with us. She has been in Paramedic school and hasn't been around much (which has been annoying since I could have really used her help that past week). But she apologized and explained that she failed her test the day after Mom went into the hospital and she needed to separate herself from all the drama. And she also made this cute collage with the sweetest note to go with it so of course I forgave her ;).

I hope you know how grateful and lucky I am to have you as an older sister. Despite the fact that you wanted them to, "send her back." ❤ Happy Birthday to my first friend, and best friend I've ever had or will ever have. From being dressed in the same outfits, playing with dolls, teaching me how to ride my bike, 4th of July dinners on great grandma's lawn, selling pies to buy a dog, adventures with dad, stealing your clothes, fighting in the bathroom we shared every morning, making dumb decisions and you loving me anyway, to watching each other grow into the women we are today. I don't want anybody else by my side. You have taught me so many important things in my life, and I don't know what I'd do without you. Thank you. I hope today is filled with love. ❤ you are amazing, sis. You have created a beautiful family, and you work so so hard. I'm very proud of you. Happy Day of Birth. Love Sadie.

Oh how I love my beautiful little family! At 29 years old I feel like I have it all!

I am so grateful for these two sweet girls and their loving acts of kindness so I could enjoy my wonderful Birthday!

!