Piper Gray at 9 months

These months seem to come and go so quickly these days. I'm kind of in denial. 

At 9 months Piper Gray:

• has pulled up on stuff just a couple of times. But she is definitely trying it more.
• Babbles all day long and mostly sticks to "dada" in her vocabulary.
• is giggly and happy most of the time and is rarely caught crying. 
• has no sign of any teeth. 
• is starting to eat a lot more "real" food and enjoys pretty much everything.
• finally is beginning to roll around more. She has been able to roll for some time but she is finally rolling front to back after getting on her belly. 
• has discovered a hate for headbands and rarely keeps them on.

She is growing like a weed and we are enjoying every minute of this stage!

Happy 9 months Piper Gray! We love you!

Jealousy issues much?

help mom.

As you can tell, the tongue is still always out.

Joe, Mom and Alyson

We've had a wonderful couple of weeks! It all started with my brother Joe and his family moving here! We met them for dinner the first night they arrived, headed to their new house, helped them unload their truck a bit, and spent some time catching up. Just a couple days later, mom arrived to help them get settled, and see us (of course). :) We stayed very busy!

Mom stayed at our house the first 5 nights. It was so fun having her. And her timing was great because she got in town while Josh was out of town. So we appreciated the company. We spent the first few days helping Joe and Karen unpack and settle in their place. We went on lots of walks, played lots of games, spent a lot of time talking and enjoying being together.

Halfway through the week, Alyson arrived. She stayed at our place. So at that point, my mom went and stayed with Joe and his family. While Alyson was here, we split our time between doing things with her and seeing my family. We had a couple girls dates (one to Cafe Rio for lunch and one to Swig after dinner), we went to the splash pad with all the kids, we ate out a few times, we went and visited josh at his store, we did some thrifting. We pretty much did it all.

It was such a fun week and a half with so much going on. It was a nice break from reality for us. Well, I should say, it was a nice break for me and the girls. Josh worked through it all. He works too much! We miss him all day, everyday.

Bassinet to Crib to Bed

We finally pulled the plug and did the ol' switcheroo on the girls! Piper has been in a bassinet since she was born. And let's just say, she's outgrown it just a bit. We've kept Elliott in the crib because we have been telling ourselves that we'd be moving soon and didn't know what we would need when we moved. So we kept them as is, thinking Piper wouldn't outgrow her bassinet before we moved. Well, we're still here and we were in need of a change! So we did it. We bought Elliott a toddler bed, packed up the bassinet and put Piper in the crib. They love it.

I was worried for Piper because she had gotten so used to her tight space, I wondered if a big bed would upset her great sleeping. But she seems to love it! And her sleeping patterns haven't changed.

I was worried for Elliott, because of the terrible time everyone seems to have when they put a toddler in a bed after being in a crib. The first few days went great. She loved it. She went right to sleep at night in it and did the same for naps! I thought, great! All our sleep training has turned her into a wonderful sleeper. What a great mom I am! Ha. That lasted all of 4-5 days. Now she gets up 10-15 times at night before going to sleep and naps have been all over the place. But we are persevering and hoping it will get better!

Here's to bigger and better things! But, ah, why do they have to grow up?!

Yeah, I'd say it was time to move to a crib...

Last night in her crib! 

Big girl! 

And into her big girl bed!

Piper was really tired that night (hence the red, crying face) but I'd say that fits her much better. 

Payson Temple Open House

A few weeks ago was the Payson Temple Open House. When our church builds a new temple, they have a dedicated amount of time where it is open to the public for tours before it is dedicated. It's a great way for non-members to see the beauty of the temples. It is also so much fun as members because we get to see the parts that we wouldn't normally see during a visit to the temple! Josh was working (surprise surprise) so Valerie and I took the kids during the week. It was fun for Elliott and Jack to see inside the temple as well. They seemed to really enjoy it. It is such a beautiful temple! Huge and beautiful! We loved it.

Elliott and Jack are getting so big! Look at them!

i am a M O T H E R

Mother's Day was wonderful for me this year. Josh had it off, thank goodness. He spoiled me, despite working until 4am the night before. He got up with the girls so I could sleep in, made me breakfast in bed (biscuits and gravy), bought me flowers the night before, and my favorite candy bar. He even got me some beautiful gold earrings and some bath bombs. He knows the way to my heart, that's for sure. Church was wonderful. Our ward lets the relief society sisters go to the gym, instead of to class and we get to chat and eat dessert the whole hour. It's glorious. I loved it. Josh made me dinner that evening (tacos) and the girls were little angels. Seriously, it couldn't have gone any better.

I am so thankful that God blessed me to be a mother. I don't take the responsibility lightly. I know how important I am to those girls. And I pray that I don't fail them. I love being a mother. It's very challenging and the hardest thing I will ever do, but I love it. Happy Mother's Day!

Elliott begged me to put makeup on her that day before church. Ugh. No. Can you say Toddlers and Tiaras much? 

Oh boy.

Matchy matchy

My cuties at church

After church

Nothing better than a husband making dinner! YUM!