Tonight we had a family birthday party for Jaden at my dad's house. It was a lot of fun! Jaden had so much fun playing with toys. He rrreally had fun getting into everything at Grandpa's house. He loves going to new places and discovering new things to play with. He got a lot of fun presents. Uncle Ryan gave him a basketball hoop! I'm excited about that! Grandpa gave him some nice shirts; Golden and Crystal and the girls gave him some cars and a book; Don gave him a big farm truck; and Aunt Angie gave him a BYU t-shirt! GO COUGARS! He had fun tearing open the presents, and then he would throw them to the side when he was done looking at them. It was pretty funny. He absolutely loved it when we sang Happy Birthday to him (twice). He got the biggest smile ever and started dancing a little bit. I put the cake in front of him with the candle lit and he was just staring intensely at it, I'm sure he was ready to attack it and put it right in his mouth. He loves cake! It was a great party tonight with the family. We always have a lot of fun when we all get together. It's always loud and full of good jokes, oh and of course good food. I was pretty proud of myself today, I made 2 pans of chicken enchiladas for everyone and Jaden's birthday cake. I managed to do that this morning and take care of my 2 babies at the same time. It was a busy, but very fun day. And I'm excited for Jaden's actual birthday tomorrow! Here are some pictures from the party tonight....

Happy Birthday to my mom!

My mom's birthday was yesterday so I thought I would write a blog about my wonderful mom in honor of her birthday! It may sound cliche, but I really do have the best mom in the whole world. Without her I wouldn't be the person I am today. She is one of the most giving people I know. She has sacrificed so much for my children and I. She came out here for 2 weeks after I had Kaylie to help me. She sacrificed time away from her husband and took unpaid time off work just to come help me. She was so tired from all the sleepless nights, but she continued to help me, let me take naps, do errands, clean, wash bottles, etc. After I had Jaden, I was living with her and Walt at the time and she helped me so much. After a long day at work she would come home and take care of Jaden for awhile so I could take a nap. In the early mornings she would get up early to take care of him so I could take another nap. All of these things she did willingly, without me hardly asking. Let's not forget that she has pretty much supported us since before Jaden was born. There are so many things my mom has done for me that it would take a million pages to list everything.
I am sooo lucky that I have been close to my mom since birth. We have always been such good friends. I tell her just about everything! She is the first person I call when I have exciting or sad news. If a few hours go by where she hasn't heard from me she goes through "Lauren withdrawals" and I go through "mom withdrawals." It has been really hard living 11 hours away from her. I miss her a lot!
I really wish I was a better writer and could express how much my mom means to me. Unfortunately, she didn't pass down her awesome writing skills to me. =)
Bottom line...My mom is my best friend and I am so grateful that Heavenly Father let me be her daughter.
I love you mom! =)

addicted to blogging!

Ok, so it's official, I am addicted to blogging! It is so much fun. Whenever things happen, Nicole and I will say "oh we need to blog about this!" haha! It used to be when I would take pictures, I would say we gotta put them on MySpace, but now its all about blogging. Don't get me wrong, I still love MySpace, too! My sister Megan and I spent about 2 hours tonight chatting online about our music playlist. It brought back lots of good memories of all the songs we used to listen to growing up. I told her she HAD to put an 'N Sync song on her playlist just for me, and of course I put a Backstreet Boys song on for her. Thank goodness for music! What would I do without it? I really think my sister and I need to be on that show, Don't Forget the Lyrics. I think we would kick butt at it!
Alright so go listen to my new playlist with some of my favorite songs! Good times good times!

Boy have I been busy lately! It is nice to have things to do, but sometimes it's nice to have a little break like tonight. This is my first night not do anything for awhile and it's nice! Although I have laundry and dishes to wash, but those can wait for a few minutes.
Last Friday I took the kiddies with me to see my sister Megan. We went and did errands and watched Justin Timberlake on Ellen. It was a lot of fun. Ryan (my brother) came over on Saturday and played with Jaden and we had dinner. It's so fun to watch Jaden with Ryan. He just loves him so much. So the thing I'm really busy with is my new job! It's just a fun little job that I get to do with my best friend Nicole two nights a week. We were hired by a lady named Joy that makes flower clips and bows for girls. She is a very sweet lady! We get to go to two of her parties a week and sell her product, and then Nicole and I make a percentage of whatever we sell for the night. I really enjoy doing it. It's nice to get out and socialize with adults and not kids for once! hehe!
Oh and let's not forget that American Idol was tonight and last night. I am sooo bummed that David Cook won! I really was hoping and thinking it would be David Archuletta. He is just amazing. When he sings, I get goose bumps! He has an amazing voice.
Life is good right now! I am just trying to get back into shape and take care of myself so I can feel pretty again and not fat and pregnant! Joy just gave me a bunch of her old rrrreally cute clothes that fit me so I will feel cute in those! And now I just need to lose weight!
And I can't let a blog go by without talking about my favorite little kiddies! :-) Jaden is doing awesome. He is starting to stand up on his own now, without holding on to anything! He is getting very close to walking. He loves doing laps around the whole house walking and pushing his toy walker. He is just so much fun. I can't wait for him to be able to walk.
Kaylie is still growing! She is so beautiful I can't get over it! She is starting to be a little more alert to things going on. I love her big brown eyes! She is also smiling more! I give her little kisses and make noises and she smiles so big at me. I can't wait to get it on camera! Hopefully soon!

Kaylie aka Drama Queen

Kaylie is 4 weeks old already! I can't believe how fast time flies by. The first 2 weeks were some rough weeks, and I KNOW that my mom (Grandma Katie) will agree with me! My mom was here helping me for the first 2 weeks and I am sooo thankful that she was here. She pretty much took care of Kaylie the first two weeks and I took care of Jaden. We split up the nighttime feedings with Kaylie so that we could get some sleep. But if you ask my mom, she will tell you that she didn't sleep for 2 weeks. Kaylie was pretty fussy for the first few weeks. She is so gassy, I feel so bad for her. But I have her on the really expensive formula now (thank goodness for WIC) and she is doing much better!
The reason I call her "Drama Queen" is because she is one, haha! Since day 3 of her life she has had a little attitude. It's almost like she is talking when she is hungry, because she makes noises, not crying noises but loud talking noises. Its pretty funny. She can cry really loud, she has some lungs! And she always wants to be held. Bottom line, she will let you know if she needs something or wants something. So that's why I call her "Drama Queen".
I am looking forward to the next few months of her life, just to see her develop into her own person. I can't wait to see the similarities that her and her brother will have, and also how different they will be. I absolutely love her, and love having a little girl to dress up all pretty!

My first Mother's Day!

It's my very first Mother's Day! Here's a funny thing...last year for Mother's Day I wasn't a mom and now for my first Mother's Day I have not only one kid, but TWO! =) I think that is pretty funny. Today for Mother's Day I am just going to be at home with my kiddies. Too bad I dont have a husband to make me breakfast in bed and change ALL the diapers for me in honor of Mother's Day. Hey, but that's okay! Overall, I'm very happy today and so thankful to be a mom!

I'm adding to this blog tonight because I wanted to brag about the awesome brother that I have! My brother Ryan came over today and walked in with a dozen pink roses, a teddy bear and a card! I was so surprised and so happy. Isn't that so sweet? He's a keeper! =)

Pictures of Jaden