Gone Fishin'

It has been so fun decorating our little boy nursery! When we bought the house, this room was already a "woodsy" theme, so it turned out perfectly that we were having a boy! Steve and I absolutely loved the log cabin awning they had built over the window, so we decided to run with it! It is a good thing I saved all my little nick-nacks from our West Jordan house where I was more of a "theme-ish" decorator. Our family room was kind of log cabin-y in that house, so I was able to pull out some old favorites that fit perfectly!

It turns out I am not great at picture taking since you can hardly see the paint on the wall. This was just the way we bought it. All walls are painted a light tan with a fat olive green stripe and a fatter brown stripe running vertically every few feet. Maybe hard to visualize, I suck at descriptions...but the stripes are big enough and far enough apart that it doesn't look "circus-y". Having a boy, I also got to try my hand at crib bedding again. After making Paige's I swore I would never do it...but this time seemed much easier. I picked out a brick red with a tiny olive stripe to make the inside of the bumpers and the bed skirt and then sewed an accent piece of chocolate brown ribbon with some olive rick-rack to the bottom of the skirt. The rest of the bumper is a mix of plaids (I think they call it madras?). Anyway...this time seemed much easier! I found some pre-made bumper foam at Jo-Ann's and just had to make the slipcovers, which were totally easy! Of course I had to make matching sheets too because all the ones we have are pink and all the new ones they sell are pastel! Even though I had done it before and used the same measurements, for some reason they turned out too small! I was pretty upset about the casualty, but forced them on anyway thinking I would make new ones before I actually put him in his crib since he will be in our room for a while.

So, now that I have the nursery ready, don't you think he should come out and join us, since he has his own fishing room to come home to? I'm sure that is all he has been waiting for. So until he does, you will find me in the rocking chair, waiting, reminding the waving bulge in my belly that this is all for him and I don't want it to go to waste!

Just a little proof

For anyone who has met our girls and witnessed the way they scream at each other, bite, hit, kick, call names, pull hair, among other modes of affection towards each other. I just happened to catch this sweet shot to prove that deep down, past REM sleep, they really do love each other!

tiny dancer

I swear this girl will never let me take a good picture of her! All summer, Claire has been dying to start Tiffany Dance Company, just like her big sister! When she got her postcard telling me her class date and time, she carried it around for weeks. I even found it in her bed.

She does act a little shy in class, but that is just Claire. She warms right up to you! Paige was so excited that Miss Tiffany rememebered her and thought she might accidently mix up the girls names.

We were so pleasantly surprised when we walked in the first day to find her cute friend Ali in class too! I had wanted them to sign up together, but Wednesday nights didn't work for them, so I was so excited when they were there!



So far, Claire seems to be having a great time. She looks back to me for approval after everything she does and is sure to help us get out the door for class so "Miss Tiffany doesn't miss her!"

6 Years Ago...

It is so hard for me to believe that just six years ago, I brought this sweet little baby home. It is so hard to believe that in those short six years, that baby grew up to learn to crawl and walk (a miracle I never thought I would see with her after all the trouble with her feet). She learned to talk and laugh. She became a big sister and learned to share (we're still working on that one). This baby learned to spell her name and to read, and just last week, I sent that baby to kindergarten! Now this baby is an energetic, beautiful six-year old girl. Her birthday this year was a week-long event! It all started last Sunday at a birthday party/dinner in her honor at Grandpa BigMac's with her cousins. Grandpa had his right knee replaced this week, so we celebrated early! Paige, Claire and I decided to experiment with dessert and ended up with a fun butterfly cake to share. The cousins seemed to love it!
Paige's actual birthday was Friday. She was able to take her favorite book, "Parts", to school and also took yellow sugar cookies to share with her class. She was able to talk on the phone with her "birthday twinner" (Paige and her cousin Katherine were born 4 hours apart). Later, we went on a family date to her restaurant of choice, Sweet Tomatoes. The birthday rolled over into Saturday where we invited 15 friends to the waterpark for lunch. Luckily it was warm, but pretty windy, so rather than play in the water, the kids mostly played on the playground in their swimsuits, while the boys caught caterpillars. But no one seemed to mind the lack of "waterpark" involved in the party. Paige got spoiled rotten with presents and we went home in Barbie Heaven! She got to spend the rest of the day playing with her cute little friend, Chailyn, who has moved too, so we rarely get to see her!
And then Sunday came, and the birthday still wasn't over. We had planned a Vincent picnic for the birthday twinners that ended up being rained out (or should I say FLOODED out). It started to pour just before the party was about to start, and of course Paige's mom and dad were too preoccupied with birthday that we forgot our cell phones when we got to the park. After eating alone in the rain, we went home to find that the party had been moved to Katherine's. So one of the guests of honor was two hours late for her own party, but still got cupcakes and ice cream and best of all, got to see Katherine! Paige seems a little down that her birthday is now over, but mommy is grateful! I am beyond sentimental about her turning six this year and ready to wait one more before birthday throws up on us again!

P is for Paige

This is the day I have taken six years to prepare myself for, yet I thought it would never come.
Today, I said goodbye, kissed these sweet little cheeks, and sent her off to kindergarten.
Luckily there were plenty of people there to hold my hand. Daddy was able to come home from work, and the four and a half of us walked to school together. We waited on the blue diamond sidewalk and then with blurry eyes, blew our kisses goodbye.
We were able to met Miss Holliday earlier last week for a personal one on one. She visited with Paige and had her to several tests for her, reading, writing, drawing. Paige said there were so many "amazing" things at kindergarten, it was a long week to wait before we could go back!
Paige had a great first day! She loves her teacher, and said she made new friends. There is a little girl in our ward in her class and her little friend, Addy, from preschool is in her class too! She said that all the boys thought she was cute because they kept staring at her, and she is the only one in the class who can read. So she spent her afternoon with kids bringing her books, asking her to read to them! What a great way to meet friends.

A Day at Lagoon

Yes, I know what you are thinking...Brooke, you are 8 months pregnant, what on earth are you doing at Lagoon in August on a Saturday? I had the same thought. Steve's work, who never does anything extra for their employees, decided to host an employee Lagoon day covering tickets, parking and a lunch buffet! Who would turn down a day of smiles for free?We got there about 11 and went straight to lunch. Nothing like filling bellies before they throw-up! G&K certainly wasn't thinking of me when they reserved the farthest pavillion from the entrace, I thought we had walked to Layton and was ready to rent a wheelchair! As soon as we reached the pavillion, our sweetest little friend came running up to us for hugs. Our good friends, the Mathews, were there too. Our kids have grown up together, but since the moves we don't see each other much. I have never seen four kids who love each other more, and who can spend the entire day together without a single fight. When we do get together, they play hard and instantly pick up where they left off the last time they were together! It was so fun to see how big their baby has gotten (ours will be a year younger) and to visit and spend the day with Nate and Ammber. We have missed them so much! The kids had a great time waiting in line all day to ride a quick minute ride. I was able to find a shady seat at nearly every ride and happily toted around my newly aquired Odysea Lagoon mug full of Diet Coke.
We had planned to only stay until around 4, but kept doing "just one more ride". Of course, Steve kept running into people he knew and talking (I can't take him anywhere!). We ended up leaving around nine with Paige in tears about her feet hurting, Claire begging for her purple woobie and Steve and I drenched in sweat with my ankles swollen into the size of cantaloupes! We stopped at Denny's for some "real food" where both girls fell asleep in their pancakes. I guess that is a good sign of a great day.

My Step-Sister's Wedding

Last weekend, my youngest step-sister Emily got married. This was the third Hyer wedding in 14 months! It was a fun experience because she really got us all involved. Mixing families has been interesting to say the least, but planning this wedding really seemed to pull Emily out of her shell! She has been in Ghana for the last several months teaching math and english to deaf children, so she really had to be organized to pull this wedding off!Emily and Al had chosen their wedding colors long before she left for Africa. They were chocolate brown, mustard, plum and olive green. I will admit I was very nervous for this combination, but I was so "wowed" with the results. At the last minute, Grandma Terry surprised us with flower-girl dresses in olive with big plum colored bows. The girls looked so cute! Emily also took all the adult girls in the wedding party for pedicures just before the wedding. She had brought home some pretty sea-glass from Africa and had bracelets made for all of the girls. The boys all wore mustard ties and Al (the groom) even had a chocolate tux!
The girls were having such a great time "exploring" in Al's granmother's backyard and I was having so much fun "discovering" chocolate covered cinnamon bears (to die for! Where have they been all my life!) that I failed to get a decent shot of the bride and groom. Emily looked absolutely gorgeous and was just glowing!
A few of the flower girls got bored during the speeches and decided to check out the decorations. This is the back of all the McClure grand-daughters, excluding Kendyl, who is 13 and didn't get a matching dress. From left to right, Paige, Karlie, Claire and Addy.

My girls are so crazy about their Grandpa BigMac! After he and Steve saved me with delivery from Eat-A-Burger, I was pretty crazy about him too! Thanks Em and Al, for a great excuse to get dressed up and party, the best us McHy's can!