Gracie's 10 months old!

Grace is an awesome baby.  She is in the 75th percentile for her weight, weighing 20lbs 8 oz and is 29 1/2 inches tall.  She did the 'army crawl for about 2 weeks after turning 9 months old and than moved on to the normal crawling, she can get everywhere and anywhere in seconds...She loves walking holding our hands, she's not so keen about her walker yet though.  She will pull herself up to standing every now and again, but mostly is happy crawling around and getting into things she shouldn't be.  She will put anything in her mouth even tiny microscopic things she finds in the carpet! lol.  vacuuming is a must now.  I started weaning her this past month and she loves her bottle, I only nurse her when she wakes up in the morning and goes to sleep for the night.  I love it this way...it still gives us both comfort but not so 'attached at the hip' anymore:)  I'm starting to put homo milk with the formula, so hopefully we can be off formula soon.  As for teeth she has 6 now!  I don't want to look for anymore coming in because the thought of her teething and being up at night/grumpy is too much to handle.  Right now she is going through an annoying faze...around 4am she'll wake up, sit up in her crib and start crying....its become a habit now.  It doesn't help that I go in and lay her down and put her blankets back on because she expects it now and will keep sitting up until she finally gives up after 3-4 times (which ends up being an hour) of me going in and leaving right away.  I'm going to have to let her cry it out and have her figure out laying back down on her own.  fun fun.  Her baby signing is so cute.  She doesn't watch the videos as much as Parks did, mostly because we don't have a tv in the main area, but she is a smart cookie.  She now can sign eat, drink, milk, all done, more, dog, sleep, happy (which is clapping), wave hi and bye.  It is so fun.  She loves sharing things as long as she gets it right back:) She drives Parks crazy, always wanting what he's playing with...and if he puts up a fight she wants it even more. lol.  Still says Mama and Dadda (she loves her Dadda).  Next word will either be Parks or dog...

This one is for you Nana:)

Keeping busy

Days become very long when the weather is crappy/kids are sick and we have to be cooped up inside.  Luckily I've been finding different things to do with the kids.  Parks LOVES painting and doing messy crafts.  Grace...well she has the most fun when I'm not looking:)  She loves the bathroom...hopefully someday soon I will actually remember to keep the door closed.  She loves to play with things that aren't hers, so if the house is clean Grace is grumpy:)  Today the kids were getting annoying again, so I turned on Accuradio.com and cranked up some good old country music and we danced in the kitchen!  It was a really cute song that I like called stuck like glue by Sugarland.  Ironically it was exactly how I felt with the kids literally stuck to me like glue...anyways it got us all happy.  The kids love it when I dance all crazy with them in my arms.  I am really grateful to be a stay at home mommy, it just really tests my patience when they are sick/teething and not sleeping at night! Summer is around the corner though...I am so excited for going to the park and letting them run around!!:)

This keeps him busy:)

A little finger play

This is a great idea from my friend Christina back home in Ottawa...put 4 drops of food colouring in a bowl of milk, than let your kids poke the colours with a q-tip...and funky art starts to appear:)

This made Parks especially happy! We let Parks paint his 'Mator' and 'Lightning McQueen' toys with paint...washes right off.

Thank goodness the Dollar Store sells paint! He likes to put it on nice and thick:)

Besides the fact that Grace is wearing the weirdest outfit combination, this is a typical picture of her trying to get Parks' attention/bugging him:)

a closer look at her cuteness!

cheesy smiles and still lovin the jolly jumper!

Grace happy as can be making messes in the bathroom...

and this is her little stinker face that she gives when she knows she being bad...

The Hill's at our best...well close enough:)

I've decided that we need to take more family pictures, so you'll be seeing more of these types of poses:) We'll appreciate them more in the future...

On our way to church...

I just love the way Parks looks here...lately he's been telling me, "Mommy, I love you in the whole wide world". he's such a little sweetie.

BATHTIME!

These are for Nana and Papa...My Mom wants to make a collage in her bathroom of her grand kids in the bath.  I didn't take the photo shoot too seriously, but I can get better ones of them actually looking at the camera on a night that Matt is home...he's good at getting there attention when it counts:)
I put them in black/white for fun...let me know if you want them in colour though.  Enjoy their cuteness!

Kind of a milestone for him!

Looking at her Ducky from her Nana and Papa;)

This is Grace's "I'm crazy in the bath" face! She's a splasher.

Parks is more of the "lets not splash so i can play with my toys" kind of bather.

It was impossible to get them BOTH to look at me let alone smile...

I love the way Grace is looking at Parks...she was so excited to get in the tub

Getting ready to go in...

what a cute little baby body:)

Tyler's Home!

Our oldest nephew Tyler just returned home from his Mission!! He has been serving The Lord as a Missionary in Mozambique, Africa for the past 2 years.  He is now 21 years old and waiting to go off to University in 6 more weeks.  He has such a glow to him now and it is truly a pleasure to be around him.  Hearing what life is like in Africa really makes you appreciate the little things we take for granted like running water and toilets.  Tyler says though that the people are very happy, humble and kind.  It really makes me not want of the world  so much and just live life as simply as possible and appreciate the little things... we don't have cable /tv so for the most part I am already out of touch with a lot of the world which is not such a bad thing.  Matt and I spend more time talking and snuggling:) Time doesn't seem to fly by so fast that way.  Anyways here are a few pictures of the day Tyler was coming home, a bunch of family came to Matt's parent's place in Okotoks and played for the day while we waited for Ty to arrive at the airport that evening:)  I think there was about 35 people from our family at the airport and a few of his friends! It was a zoo, but we found a comfy area in the airport and everyone hung out for a bit and had cake!  

Some of the 'Hill' ladies

Seth looking so colourful

Parks with his cousin Zach

Anderson snuggling with his Gran:)

Here we are! Ready and waiting...

Unfortunately my pictures aren't the best, but this was right when he came out...his 3 sisters all ran to him. It was really cute.

For anyone that wants to know more about what are beliefs are in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saint please visit www.mormon.org

Nana's Visit!

My Mom flew out for a visit at the end of February for a week and a bit. It went by quickly, but we had a lot of fun! The kids still adore their Nana. Matt and I were able to go on a date night:) We all went swimming, shopping, Mom helped stock up our freezer with yummy homemade meatballs and spaghetti sauce... it was pretty cold the week she was here, but we managed to take her for a quick snowmobile ride too. Mom convinced me to spruce up our living room...and now it looks awesome and we love hanging out in it:) I miss you so much Mom (and Dad), it was so super nice having my Mama here though. You are an amazing woman. I have a lot of pics to send you, but here is a sneak peek:)

Mom teaching Matt how to make her famous carrot cake:)

We brought Mom to visit Matt at his Fire Station for her 1st time

Nana and Grace doing their 'bonks'

Mormon Messages: What Matters Most

This message is from The Prophet of our Church. He is an amazing man and truly inspired by The Lord. This talk is a wonderful reminder...on what matters most:)

Grace is 9 months old!

Little Princess

I wish I had her weight and height, but it has been so cold out and both kiddos have been sick, so we have been hibernating for awhile...
Grace has changed sooo much this past month, hopefully I can remember everything...most important she says "Mama" ALL the time...AND she knows its me:) so that is her first word, even though she said 'Dadda' a month or two ago:) but she was into the D's than and she never actually looks for Daddy when she says it...sorry Matt:)
She loves clapping her hands upon request, playing peek-a-boo, signs 'all done' when she doesn't want to eat something, puts her head down when you say sooo sleepy, sorta signs 'eat' every now and again, loves watching Baby Signing Time, she now puts one foot in front of the other and walks holding your hands. And of course she absolutely adores Parks.  Matt does 360s with her in the air, front flips and back flips...it doesn't even faze her!  
She is an expert at sitting and going down to her tummy than back up again....she looks like she's about to crawl but than ends up going onto her tummy and doing the fancy 'army crawl' instead.  It gets her from A to B (or rather to Ammo's dog dishes!).  She is such a happy little thing and loves playing and doing her own thang.  She nurses way too much...I need to start weaning.  As for the lovely teeth...she has 2 bottoms and 1 side 'fang,' beside that her front tooth is almost out...and you can see the next two toppers about to pop through soon too.  She cant handle teething...up all night lately wanting to nurse, plus she is still a bit sick, so she's really out of sorts.  Oh the Joys right! 

Here we are!

Always watching Parks' every move

She especially loves her Nana...and all the snuggles

Loving Nana's visit...

my new fave

and the mess begins...

Hanging out with her cookie by Ammo's dishes

Her new fave move...'downward dog' ah thank you:)