A Day Out with Thomas

Today we went to the Heber Valley Railroad for "A day out with Thomas". We told Lucas we were going to see Thomas, but I don't think he really understood what that meant. As we pulled up to the train I filmed Lucas... here is his reaction of seeing Thomas for the first time.

 

As soon as we got out of the car Lucas went running to Thomas. He didn't want to take pictures or smile he just wanted to go see the Thomas Choo Choo.

 Lucas kept saying, "All aboard!" He couldn't wait to get on the train.

 Baby slept through all the excitement :)

On the train...

 After the train ride it was off to the imagination station. They had dozens of train tracks with every Thomas train. Lucas was in heaven! He would have stayed all day if we let him.

 We went and looked at all the other trains around the station. Lucas thought this was "Mavis"... we didn't tell him otherwise.

 No trip is complete without seeing Sir Toppham Hat!

After our adventures we headed to the ever famous Dairy Keen for some delicious burgers, fries, and diet coke with crunchy ice. Dairy Keen is "Home of the Trains". Of course lunch had to be train related :) They have a train that goes around the entire restaurant and for the weekend when Thomas is in town they switch out the steam engine for Thomas... Lucas was in heaven!

There he is!

On the way home with his Monkey balloon and his choo-choo's. 

When we got home Jane decided to be all giggles. Love her!

Kids Room

I am in no way an interior decorator... in fact when it comes to most "decorating" I leave it to Andy because he has a much better eye than I do. You should have seen the color I chose for our house... YIKES! It was a purple palooza! Not to mention our first rental... it was ORANGE.

Before we knew we would be moving I had the cutest bedding picked out for the nursery. In fact Andy re-did the guest room while we were in California over Christmas:

I loved it. And I was imagining how I would decorate it. Then a month later we decided to move. I was so sad that little Janie wouldn't get to have her nursery. When we found our condo I realized the kids would be sharing a room and the bedding wasn't going to match. So I exchanged it for something more neutral that matched Lucas' bedding.

For the past month I guess you could say I have been mourning the pink nursery. It made me sad to go in the kids room because it wasn't what I had envisioned when I found out I was having a girl.

This week I decided to stop the pity party, because really... who cares? Jane doesn't even know, nor does she even sleep in there at the moment. And all Lucas cares about are his trains. I decided to just make it what I wanted and hoped it wouldn't clash in the end. So here it is!

Entrance

 Tissue Pom Poms... & Lucas climbing in the crib.

 Jane smiling at her pom poms... she loves them!

 Pinterest inspired book shelves.

 Lucas' bed & Train Table

 Crib & Rocking Chair

 Changing Table- (The frame is navy... but looks black)

So there you have it. The kids room. It now makes me happy to go in because it is girly and still fun for Lucas. I still want to do a few more prints, but for now it is done. As I was taking the pictures tonight the kids had just gotten out of the bath. They were both in such happy moods and it made me remember to not sweat the small stuff. Just enjoy these two while they are young. So yes, I do sometimes wish Jane had her pink nursery... but I am sure she will love this one too.

Happy Girl :)

 I was playing peek a boo with Jane to get her to smile and Lucas wanted in on the action. He jumped up and started smiling.

 Then Lucas asked if he could hold the baby... she looks real thrilled :)

 After I was done Lucas said, "Mama, say cheese on 'Cas bed?" And he jumped up on his bed and started posing.

 I mean really...? Can he be any cuter? 

Had I known he would have been so happy to get his picture taken I would have put cuter PJ's on :)

Our Humble Abode

Here it is folks... our humble abode :) 

The couch.

 The TV.

 Dining Area.

 Kitchen.

 View from the Front Door.

 And here is my silly boy. This is before our morning jog... He loves his hat. 

The kids room isn'y quite finished yet...so I will post picture in the coming weeks. Our room will probably never be posted, because it will never be done :)

Mother's Day Weekend

Last weekend we had so much fun as a family. On Friday afternoon we headed up the canyon to do some fishing. Lucas and Andy did all the work while Jane and I lounged on the blanket. We only caught one, but it was just enough for fish tacos later that night.

On Saturday we got to celebrate Mothers Day with my Aunt Traci and family. My Aunt Traci was my mom away from home when I was in college. Now she is my mom with my mom residing in Chile. :) We had a yummy Cafe Rio dinner, swimming, and girl talk. We love living close to my cousins. It is crazy because when we left Provo there was only one little one running around.... now, just 4 years later there were 8! And one more is joining in August! It is crazy, but Lucas had so much fun, as did Andy and I!

Here is my cousin Brandi holding little Jane. I didn't get a picture of her newest addition Tate. He is so cute!

Swimming... Lucas had just gone off the slide after this picture.

My cousin Whitney and  her little boy Kaden. He is only 2 weeks older than Jane

Cousin-in-law Carly with a sleeping Britton.

On Sunday we went to church. I look at these pictures and still can't believe I have two! I love being a mom to these little munchkins.

Lucas was trying to get Jane to laugh

And then her bow fell off and he had to fix it. He is the best big brother!

It was a great weekend and Lucas and Andy spoiled me all weekend long. :)

Riverwoods

Fridays and Saturdays are my favorite days because Andy has no work and is home! We try and fill up our days with as much activity and family time as possible since we don't get much more then an hour here and there on the other days. Today we woke up and had some errands to run... we went to Ikea, lunch at Chick Fil A, and an exchange at Nordstrom.

Then it was home for naps and regrouping. Tonight we headed to the Riverwoods for the first time since it was renovated. Andy and I actually went to the Riverwoods often when we were single because he loved Bajio and I loved chocolate covered apples. Now it is even better and the best part is it is a short walk away.

Today it was chilly out so we bundled Jane up as best as possible, which included my favorite Hanna Andersson hats:

 Rode a Harley

 Of course we found the "choo-choo's"

 Tried out a new dinner place.. Malawi's Pizza. Pretty good, Lucas loved the mac n cheese.

 Then we we went the "Provo Beach Resort"- an indoor play area for all ages. The toddler area has a jungle gym with slides and foam building blocks. Here we are playing "mini" bowling. SO MUCH FUN for toddlers. The balls are minature so Lucas could lift them up. The lanes aren't waxed so he couldn't fall and it is only $2.50. My kind of activity!

We ended the night with Blue Bell ice cream and walked home. We will definitely be walking back soon.

And for family.. here is a video of Lucas. He used to only refer to Jane as "Baby"... but since has learned Baby Jane. He also finally will say his name, or at least what he can say of it, "cas", pronounced "cus". Love this little boy, even though he covers my mouth and says "Shhh, quiet" to me about 100 times a day whenever I say something he doesn't want to hear.

 

The Price of Sleep

Sleep is a funny thing. Everyone needs it. Most everyone wants it. New mothers crave it. And yet, it is something that you can't always have or is it something that always comes. You can't buy it and you can't always choose how long it stays.

Amongst new mothers sleep is a common topic of discussion. "How is your baby sleeping?" "4 hours?" "What do you do that works?" Etc, etc...

We have been struggling in the sleep department for the past month. I have never been so tired--both physically and emotionally. Jane has been a great sleeper- the only problem is she insists on sleeping with me. With Lucas I would have NEVER let this happen, but this time around I really haven't had a choice. I have been so tired that I would do anything to let her sleep, so if that meant she was on my chest, so be it!

About a week ago I decided that enough was enough and we both had to sleep. I read back in the blog to see when I put Lucas in his crib--1 month old. Unfortunately, the kids are sharing a room now and I can't very well sleep train Jane with Lucas in the room. So I started having Jane nap in her crib, which worked for about 10 minutes and then Lucas went running in to play. I tried keeping him out, but then he screamed by the door, waking Jane up anyway. Fail.

We tried our pack n play, but we lost the newborn attachments and baby did not like it. So I researched mini cribs... I swooned over this one. Tried every which way to justify its price. After looking through KSL ads for what seemed an eternity I came across this one! I called the owner...negotiated and that night had a mini crib. The best part of the crib is it has wheels. So baby girl naps in our room, but at night we just wheel her into the family room. I don't hear her sounds that wake me up every hour, and she doesn't get woken up every hour by me checking to make sure she is ok.

Last night she slept from 10-4, then 4-7. In my book that is a homerun! So for me... the price of sleep was a gently used mini crib. It was worth every penny.

And because Lucas has been neglected on the blog here is he with his three favorite things. 1. Thomas Train 2. Fishing Pole 3. One of Daddy's baseball hats.

Andy bought Lucas a fishing pole so they could go fishing up at Vivian Park. It is only a 5 or so minute drive from our condo and they go a few times a week. Lucas LOVES it. He loves his fishin pole, and he loves the fish.. he just isn't a fan of when the fish are actually ON the pole. It scares him. haha.

Next post... pictures of the condo. Maybe today, maybe tomorrow :)