January Kiddos

 1/5/16- Elizabeth loves to 'hold' and play with James.  They are so cute together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1/7/16- We painted and accessorized a box to make it into a train.  She thought the process was fun but the train wasn't as exciting as we had hoped.

Jan 8, 2016

Jan 22, 2016- He loves jumping and playing on his exersaucer

 

 January 22, 2016- We did a Valentine's craft.  She got to cut and glue!

 

 January 23, 2016

 

 

Jan 10, 2016

New Car

We have been looking for a new car for a while and have test driving a lot of different things and finally settled on a van.  There is a huge stigma behind vans and it was hard for us to consent to the fact that we were buying an 'adult' car but the space and luxury won out in the end.   We worked  with Jeremy to find a good deal in Utah, because there are a lot more used van options there.  On January 30, Ben flew to Utah with Rachel, they bought a car and drove it home.  

We bought a silver 2013 Honda Odyssey with low mileage and lots of bells and whistles (a not necessary perk)!  This was the first car that we had to finance (not pay out of pocket) and it was a little nerve wracking for us to accept that we have a car payment.  It has heated seats, a back-up camera, blue tooth and automatic doors.  It also has a built in dvd player (we have already had to explain to Elizabeth that's it's only for long trips) and cd player.  It is a fun toy and, although it is big and hard to park, we love it!

Less than two weeks after getting the car, I got rear ended while sitting at a light.  I had Elizabeth and James in the car but none of us got hurt (James actually slept through it).  The car has a small dent and paint damage, so it is not bad but just annoying.  We are going through the long annoying process of working with insurance to have it fixed.  

Elizabeth's 3rd Birthday!

I can't believe my little baby girl is 3!!! She is growing up so fast and so is her spunk, sass and smarts!

 

Elizabeth's friends all have birthdays at the end of the year, so we just finished a lot of birthday parties, and Elizabeth started planning her's months ago.  We had a big friend party at the Newson's house on Saturday Feb. 6.  It was a dress up party, with pizza, balloons and cupcakes- she is easy to please.  We filled a room with balloons and just let the kids go at it, had pizza for dinner (parents stayed) and had the kids decorate their own cupcakes for dessert.  Elizabeth was so excited and had fun!  

 

 

 

Elizabeth's Cupcake- instead of decorating the cupcake she just decorated the plate around the cupcake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 On her actual birthday (Feb 9) we had ballet in the morning and took donuts and had some fun play time afterwards. Nana and Grandma Baker came to visit in the afternoon and brought presents (spoiled girl).  That night we had pizza for dinner, of course.  Ben was gone in the evening so we got ready for bed before doing cake and presents (in new Elsa pajamas).  She had a special Cinderella cake; she was a little worried because she didn't want us to eat Cinderella's face.  It was definitely a new challenge for me to make but turned out good. (I did things wrong from the beginning so it was one 'fix it' attempt after another but she loved it and it didn't break apart, like I was fearing.) She told us she wanted pink, purple and princesses stuff for her birthday and we delivered.  She is so fun to shop for because everything she opens is exciting and her face is so fun and excited!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 We sure do love our little Lizard and are so happy she has been blessing our lives for 3 whole years!!

Snow Days and Markos Visit

After Meredith came to visit and had so much fun, Sarah and the younger boys (Jack, Luke and Thomas) decided to come out also.  It was so much fun to see them and to hang out with them.  A couple days before they got here there was a huge snow storm; Ben stayed home from work a couple days and the snow made it up to Elizabeth's chest! She did not think it was that much fun playing in it while it was that high.

 

 

 

 

By the time the Markos got here it was melted to a manageable amount and pack-able for snowballs and sledding.  The boys loved sledding and even got reckless a couple times (head first over a jump- yikes). 

Grandma Newson with two youngest Grandsons- Thomas (13 mo) and James (6 mo)

Luke after a good run and crash

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elizabeth loved hanging out with her cousins and they were so patient with her.  Thomas would just sit and watch James, who is sitting up now; they will be good friends someday.  While they were here we also had a birthday party for Elizabeth and had a super bowl party; the Broncos won- yay! 

Broncos Orange and Blue